The Solarii
by WorldreaverPrime
Summary: A mysterious intruder invades Slade's hidden base and offers to the criminal mastermind knowledge of a fabled artifact of inconcievable power. Will Slade accept the intruder's offer? Who is this mystery person? And, most importantly, what does this mean f
1. Prologue Advent of Saevan

**The Solarii**

**Part 1: Advent of Saevan**

A hooded figure dressed in cloak and dark robes strode through cold tunnels under the earth. This place, he had been told, belonged to a powerful and evil man known well in the region. A man who dreamt of conquest and of total control of those with weaker wills, in short, supreme power. The hooded figure knew of such things, conquest and power. And although this man did not know it, the hooded figure had journeyed a great distance to offer his assistance to him.

But, before hand, the hooded figure had first to gain an audience with this man, and then impress upon him the nature of his offer and his genuine sincerity. He had also been told that this man disliked strangers in his lair, being a private individual and valuing his solitude. This man would send his minions made of cold metal, circuitry, and gears. To a lesser individual, these mechanical sentinels would be a force to fear. However, machine warriors were nothing new to the hooded figure, being from a place that understood and employed technology such as this but to a much higher, more powerful degree.

Besides, the hooded figure had came prepared. In his left hand, he held a long straight staff made of a midnight black metal, topped with a blood-red crystal that seemed to pulse with a rude parody of life. Runes of mystical origin and arcane power adorned its polished surface, and it's far end was sharpened into a point as well. In his right hand, the figure clasped a thick black book, bound in the same black metal that composed his staff. More runes of the same kind as the staff's shaft adorned the covers of this volume. Inside, there lay vast amounts of magical power contained in various incantations, rituals, and other chants.

This was the Onyx Grimoire, a rare and dread artifact from a equally dreadful place, and contained dark powers the likes of which could have only once been wielded by a great fire lord of the abyss or a mighty duke of the hells.

Secure in the knowledge that he came with both weapons and magic of great power, the hooded figure continued through the underground complex without hesitation. In time, he exited the tunnels into a vast cavernous area. The roof was alive with mechanical things, great gears and wheels, pistons and cogs. Ahead of him, he saw what might have passed as this evil man's headquarters on a raised platform, with a long causeway extending out from it to a smaller platform in the middle of a great chasm surrounded by sightless windows, or screens.

On this smaller platform there sat a dais of three raised steps, and on this highest step sat a great metal throne of orange and black. In this throne sat the evil man, who wore his orange and black armor of plates and chain, his face obscured by a mask. Only a single eye was visible, and this eye flared with a cold malevolence when it fell upon the hooded figure. In his surprise, he stood from his seat on his metal throne, and pointed an accusatory finger at the hooded figure, "How did you find this place! Tell me quickly, or else prepare for a truly unpleasant end!"

The hooded figure stopped in the middle of the cavern, half way to the causeway that led out to the man's throne. "Locations over, on, or under the earth are easy to find with the proper interrogation techniques. This you should well be aware of, Slade."

Slade, the man whom the hooded figure had come to speak with, felt his anger rise within him. Such an answer was, in it's nature, designed to both give an answer and not answer at the same time. The fact that this intruder knew his name and was not afraid troubled him. He sat back down, attempting to regain his composure. "Well, no matter how you found this place, it is of no consequence. You won't be leaving to tell anyone of your discovery, after all. Guards!"

Out of secreted doorways and up from hidden elevators swarmed an army of Slade's minions, and they charged right for the hooded figure, seeking to destroy him as soon as possible. The hooded figure stood perfectly still as the horde rapidly approached. He shook his hooded head and said, "Slade, how hasty of you! You do not even know what you are dealing with. That is well and good, for now I suppose I must educate you."

With that, he took his staff and stuck it in the floor, it's tapered spear-like end first piercing the hard rock easily. Then, he began to chant under his breathe, the Onyx Grimoire left his grasp and began to float before him within an eerie red and black aura. At his command, the Onyx Grimoire flipped open and rapidly leafed to a specific passage within its pages, a section of runic writing began to flash as the hooded figure read it aloud. Then, with a shout, he flung out his hands, causing a wall of flames to rise before him on all sides. The minions that entered or were caught within the flames were instantly destroyed, incinerated beyond recognition. The others, upon seeing this, raised their blaster weapons and opened up fire. Beams of coherent light energy threatened to ventilate the hooded figure, but the figure never wavered in his intense concentration. He began to chant again, his voice carrying a different pitch and timbre, giving his arcane words a different inflection. The firewall absorbed the energy blasts and surged outwards like a wave, reducing to ash the rest of the minions nearby.

Another wave of the android soldiers charged, but once again the hooded figure chanted and once again they were destroyed by another spell from the Onyx Grimoire. This time, a swirling vortex of energy opened above them and out leapt arcing bolts of chaotic energy that swept the androids from existence in a series of coruscating explosions. A third wave of androids converged on the hooded figure from all sides. Seeing how easily these automatons were destroyed, the hooded figure grabbed the Onyx Grimoire and his staff from where it was stuck into the ground and executed an impossible leap high into the air, back flipping out of the encircling ring of robots. He landed behind them without effort and leveled the staff at the entire lot of them. With a command thought, he ordered the staff to reveal its true power. The staff was the Rod of the Blighted Heart, another powerful dark artifact in his collection. With a horrible shriek and a terrible flash of black light, the fabric of reality warped and allowed a portion of the negative plane of existence, the Void, to enter the material plane for a very short while. From out of this primeval place in the center of the multiverse reached the tentacles of a horrible creature that resided there. The androids were clutched in the oily grip of these appendages and dragged flailing into the planar anomaly out from which the beast reached.

Slade, who had witnessed the utter destruction of his minions, was livid with rage. He shouted for yet more of his mechanical servants to beset this sorcerous intruder, but before he could even finish what he was saying, the intruder appeared next to him out of a passing shadow. Without thinking, he lashed out with one foot, directing all his expertise in the martial arts to break the intruder's neck. Faster than Slade could register, the intruder had his ankle in a vise-like grip.

"Now, Slade, enough of your foolishness! I've come not to do battle with you or your creations. Instead, I had come to offer you something of great power, but you attacked me. So, I leave the decision up to you. We can continue to fight, and you can lose and die a horrible death cast within the Void, or we may parley. What say you?"

Slade could only stare at this person. Whoever, or _whatever_, he was. He had never felt such strength! Or seen such a display of destruction... This intruder spoke of offering to Slade an object of great power. What could it be? And, more importantly, would it be enough to finally annihilate those troublesome Teen Titans? These missing answers and his own undying sense of curiosity finally sealed the deal. The hooded figure, sensing a release of anger and a relaxing of the muscles in Slade's leg, relinquished his hold on the villain's ankle. Slade once again stood on two feet. Hoping he hadn't lost much face in the eyes of this surprisingly potent individual, he replied, "You have convinced me of the worth of such an offer. I will hear what you have to say, but I would first know who you are."

The hooded figure nodded, seeming well pleased with Slade's response. "But, of course!" Reaching up with gloved hands, the figure removed it's hood and revealed to Slade the visage of the person underneath. The intruder was a young man, appearing no more than seventeen years of age on the surface with a elfin handsomeness to his face and long black dread locks falling from his head. His eyes, however were black with red irises, and shone within an intelligence and wisdom far older than his physical frame attested to. They were the darkest windows into a heart filled of the purest malice that Slade had ever seen. He bowed deeply, gracefully, "You may call me Saevan."

"Saevan, is it? Very well, then." Slade said, slowly growing more comfortable now that he sensed an opportunity that he could exploit, "Tell me of this object that you offer to me. The one of great power."

Saevan smiled as he straightened, and for all the world he looked like a content serpent who had just swallowed a plump rodent. "Tell me, Slade, have you ever heard of the Adamant King?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2: Clear and Present Danger**

"The Adamant King?" Slade echoed, unable to keep the tone of wonder from his voice. He sat once again in his throne of metal, looking upon his newest associate, "No, I admit that I have not. What is it?"

Saevan laughed, and replied, "Well, I could give you a rather lengthy discourse on its history, how I can to possess that said knowledge, and where exactly I came from. But, for brevity's sake, I shall tell you this: the Adamant King is an artifact of such power, that once unveiled and firmly in your grasp, this world and countless others would be yours for the taking!"

Slade glared at Saevan with his one visible eye, not truly sure if he had heard Saevan right. Countless worlds? As a criminal mastermind of some power, he had only dreamed of dominating a single world, Earth. But, this hint that others were out there, was intriguing. Still, there was something about this deal that didn't sit right with the cold megalomaniac. Having spun his share of deceitful webs and intricate plots, he could smell when ulterior motives were kept under the surface. "Saevan, this offer of yours, it is truly extraordinary. If this Adamant King is as powerful as you say, and you know its exact location, why do you not make use of it yourself? Surely one such as you, with all your power, should be able to make better use of the artifact than I?"

Saevan's countenance took on grave appearance and he turned his back to Slade, revealing just how comfortable he had become in his presence, or how impotent he perceived Slade to be. Slade couldn't be sure which was it. "A good question, my friend. I knew you'd find it strange that I should offer this thing to you, as well as you should. After all, I _could_ use the artifact. In fact, I have, once before. But, there was a set back..." His voice trailed off as his hands clenched and unclenched convulsively, and it seemed to Slade that the strange young man was reliving unpleasant memories by the way he seemed to tremble. An overwhelming sense of pure, malicious power began to build in the room, until Saevan seemed to remember himself. He turned back to Slade with his impertinent smirk, fast becoming familiar, back on his lips. "Anyway, as I was saying, I have used it before. By the nature of the artifact, those who cannot wield it are rejected and can never use it again. The consequences of attempting to defy this rule are more horrible than the most gruesome deaths you can imagine!"

"Then, what makes you think I can wield it, if you could not?" Slade inquired, thinking perhaps he had better quit while he could. He was secure in his power, but if Saevan, who was obviously more than human, couldn't control this Adamant King, how could he? After all, for all his narcissism, he was still mortal.

Saevan replied, "Ah, another perfectly valid question! I could not wield the Adamant King because I was inexperienced at the time, and because I had no one to assist me in marshaling its potential. You, Slade, are fortunate. You will be far more experienced than I was, and you have me to assist you when it comes time to assert your control. However, I should inform you that I will also be getting something out of this deal."

"But of course, I understand entirely." Slade replied, feeling pride in his abilities to read people. He knew that Saevan would ask for something in return. "Just name what you wish, and I shall see to it that you receive your just compensation."

Saevan turned to look at Slade, a grave expression upon his face. "Will you, now? That remains to be seen. For, what I wish above all things is to be rid of a nuisance that has plagued my existence. There is someone you must kill, Slade. An individual who matches my power and skill, who seems to be content in acting as my foil in all my endeavors. When he perceives of my presence here on this world, he will come. He always does."

Slade's eye widened with shock momentarily, but he blinked to hide his uncharacteristic show of emotion. Another as strong as Saevan? Was it possible? Slade felt an ambiguous mixture of intrigue and trepidation swirl in his gut and touch his mind. How many of Saevan's ilk were there? Could they be swayed to serve, or at least pledge an alliance to, Slade's cause? The possibilities of having more than one associate as powerful as Saevan were endless. But, it was best to be prudent. After all, he didn't intend to fully trust this strange young man, who seemed much more than he appeared. "If that is all you wish in return, so be it. When this... individual... arrives, I will personally bring you his head on a platter!"

"We shall see, Slade." Saevan allowed, and then made a gesture in the air with one hand. The Onyx Grimoire rose from where it had sat on the metal platform and floated before its master. With another gesture, Saevan commanded the book to open to its chapters of arcane lore. There, he searched until he found what he was looking for, then uttered a word unintelligible to Slade's ears. The book gave forth a flash of light and there, hovering before Slade was an image of a long, silvery-white rod adorned with a sort of sculpted head. Gazing intently upon the shimmering image as if suddenly mesmerized, Slade inquired, "What is this?"

Saevan nodded to the image and, by way of explanation, said, "This is the Sceptre of the Adamant King, an artifact forged by the Idaltu caste of the ancient Solvani aeons ago. It was crafted so that whoever possessed it could locate the Shaper's Forgeworks, the resting place of the Adamant King. It was buried in an ancient temple on this world, and it was recovered by what your people call archaeologists. It resides now in a sub-basement vault at the Jump City Historical Society of Antiquities. We must acquire it as our first step towards our ultimate goal. To that end, send some of your machine minions to seize it and bring it here."

"My dear Saevan, what makes you thing such a simple plan will succeed? Have you not heard of this city's adolescent guardians, the Teen Titans? They will surely intercept my minions, as you call them, and defeat them. However, if we had a diversion, then I am certain that the Titans would not be a problem." Slade replied, silently wondering in the back of his mind if Saevan was truly that stupid. How could he not know that there would always be a complication? Nothing was ever as simple as it looked!

But, Saevan only made another gesture, and the Onyx Grimoire's yellowed pages began to flip wildly. His eyes tracked through the changing script, obviously searching for a spell or something of the sort. Finally, the pages stopped, and his eyes were fixed on the image of a large, wicked looking monster covered in chains, sporting an armored hide and wielding a heavy, blood-stained mattock. Saevan smiled evilly and began to chant in a thoroughly inhuman voice...


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3: The Danger Unleashed**

The sun climbed over the horizon and brought light to the world once more. A new day had dawned, and the clouds that had gathered over the city by night began to dissipate. The early spring cold fled as well before the fiery rays and a fog rose from the bay as the cold air met warmer water.

And, all alone, awake before anyone else, Raven sat upon the roof of the immense Titan's Tower. There, seated with her legs crossed underneath her upon the cold metal surface of the building, she watched the orb of brilliance that was the sun as it began to make its way into the sky. This was part of her usual routine. She greeted the day, basked in the purity of a new beginning, and hoped that the coming day would be a good one. Hoped that the ceaseless crime alerts would finally hold for a while and give she and her friends a moment's peace. With these thoughts, her gaze turned to the city across the waters. There had been an awful lot of criminal activity lately, more than normal. Crime in a city as big as Jump City was not unusual, but to have such a crime spree as this, well, that was strange. But, as always, Robin, the Boy Wonder contributed the crime spree to Slade, when the old villain hadn't shown his face in months. But, the leader of the Titans had kept them all on their toes. All that extra training and preparedness had paid off, and five supervillains along with countless lesser miscreants had found new homes in the local maximum security prison complex.

But, all that was in the past few days, and she could not dwell on them. She had to keep looking forward. It was time to meditate before the others woke, and she would be interrupted, unintentionally or no. Taking deep breathes, she assumed her stance, and began to softly chant those words of focus she often did, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos..." And felt herself drift from the material world, if only for a brief time. In this state of mind, state of being, she was finely attuned to the normally invisible and intangible facets of the world around her. Her senses, no longer confined to just the material plane, could survey the astral and ethereal planes as far as she dared, for if she strayed too far her tenuous connection to her mortal coil would not remain intact. To die in such a manner would not be pleasant, to say the least. Now, she began to order her internal energies, her eldritch power that stemmed from her daemonic heritage. She removed all traces of rage, hatred, and chaos from herself. In the same way, she kept other emotions under control, lest they allow the taint of her father to manifest itself through her darker aspects. She was nearly finished with this process when she felt a tremendous rippling in the planar fabric, a massive swelling of energy stood out in the astral realm like an impossibly bright beacon star. The power that emanated from that swelling of energy caused Raven's soul-self to shiver in a strange combination of fear, pleasure, and longing. Such power! But, as quickly as it arouse, it died and was gone. In its wake, Raven realized what had happened. A summoning ritual! Someone had torn open the way between the planes of the multiverse and had called for another being, but who? She decided her meditation could wait.

Returning to herself, she opened her eyes and floated back down to the roof where she stood and stretched, working the minor kinks out of her muscles. Then, she headed back down into the tower by the elevator that ran throughout all the levels of the enormous structure. When the doors parted, she found herself in the tower's main room, the common living space that housed the Titan's living room and attached kitchen area. Robin was the only one present, sitting on the couch watching the morning news, a bowl of cereal before him on the low table. Upon hearing the door to the elevator open, he looked over his shoulder. Seeing it was Raven, he waved and said, "Morning."

Raven nodded in acknowledgment and looked around. "Where's the others?" she inquired. "Well, good morning to you too, then." Robin replied, and then shrugged, "Dunno, they said that they'd be headed into town this morning. I think Starfire may have dragged those two unfortunate souls to do a bit of 'the shopping' with her." At that, Robin smiled and turned back to the TV. "We won't be seeing them for another hour, I estimate."

Raven frowned at the back of his head while she went into the kitchen to fix herself a cup of her ususal herbal tea. "Aren't you worried we'll have to respond to a crime alert, and they'll be late? You've certainly lost a lot of stress since yesterday."

Robin shrugged again, swallowed, and replied, "I figured that once we put those criminals away the other day, we'll have a day or two of peace. I finally realized that it wasn't really Slade behind it all, in the end."

Raven sighed and rolled her eyes, "Somebody call the newspapers, he actually doesn't think it's Slade this time..." She put the kettle on the stove and then went to sit and wait for it to boil. "By the way, I might as well tell you now, but I had the strangest feeling when I was meditating this morning."

"Mmm?" Robin said, spooning yet more cereal into his mouth. He finished the last of his breakfast and added, "Like what?"

"I felt the telltale sensation of a summoning ritual being performed." Raven informed him. "You do remember my explanation on the subject, right?"

Robin sat back in his seat and thought. He had once became curious about the more arcane side of Raven's powers, specifically the arts of magic. He'd seen so many villains use it to attempt the destruction of his team and friends that he decided he had better get educated. Raven seemed the one member of the team able to school him on the subject, and reasoned she would be able to give him at least a basic understanding of mystical power. "Wasn't summoning magic the art of calling otherworldly beings from different planes to our world?"

"Not bad, you actually remembered the gist of it. What else?" Raven replied, very pleased that Robin had been such an apt student though not showing it. Robin smirked, "Well, when a summoner attempts to conjure a creature, they literally tear a hole in the fabric of our plane, our world, to allow their target entrance. Summoned creatures obey the summoner if they are weaker of will, however a summoner must be careful because stronger creatures often break the binding dweomer and rebel from control. You said you felt a summoning ritual while meditating?"

"Yes, I did... And it wasn't a benevolent being that was conjured." Raven told him, "I have a bad feeling, Robin. We should tell the others to be careful."

Robin reached for his communicator, but hesitated and looked into Raven's eyes, "Are you sure? I mean, you've had bad feelings before, and..."

Raven was about to interrupt him when the newscast being aired on the TV changed to a live news bulletin from somewhere downtown in Jump City. A news crew was charging through screaming masses of citizens, weaving around abandoned cars, headed to something up ahead. The reporter was speaking into the camera as he ran. "This is a Channel 9 News special bulletin! It appears that some horror is plaguing the downtown district of Jump City. All these people are fleeing it, just what t is, I don't know! We're going to find out for you, faithful viewers! Stay tuned!"

Robin looked at Raven, his mouth slightly agape. Raven glared back at him, "Does that answer your question?"

Bret Savage, star reporter for Channel Nine News, Jump City's premier news station, was both terribly frightened and incessantly excited. He knew that he shouldn't be running in the other direction from which others fled, but he had to make the story. He had to keep delivering the goods to his producers and their boards of directors, their infernal ratings had to be kept propped up by exciting news stories. Well, Bret couldn't think of a more exciting story than some strange terror strangling downtown Jump City in its clutches. From up ahead, there was a sound as if a large, viciously angry animal raged about. Smoke from wrecked cars clogged the air, yet Bret led his crew forward.

"Bret, your flippin' insane!" his sound man, Kip Dreibeck, shouted, trying to keep up while holding his boom mike steady. The camera man, named John Culsky, added his opinion, "We're all flippin' insane... insane to be following that wacko! Can't you hear that thing up ahead? Sounds like a cross between an elephant and a grizzly bear, the size of a freakin' dinosaur! We're all gonna die for sure if we run into it!"

Bret ignored them. He knew he didn't have to waste his breathe trying to convince them, as the lure of a groundbreaking story was all the others needed to keep going when they knew they should turn around and run. They knew it too, and their protests ended just as suddenly as they began. Half a block later, the crowds and cleared away and the destruction increased in magnitude. Buildings were half-wrecked, cars crushed into smoldering craters, and the very road was nearly pulverized beyond use. Whatever had caused this destruction had to have been massive and extremely deadly, of that there was no debate. The real question was, where was it, the thing that had done so much damage? They pressed on for another block, and then a second. Finally, the smoke cleared and they found themselves in the large plaza of the Jump City Shopping Complex, and there Bret found his answer. The three men stood, eyes large with stark terror, mouths agape and trembling, at the sight that beheld them. "What the hell is... THAT?"

Standing before them, towering three stories into the sky, was a creature unlike anything seen before on Earth. The beast was a solid, muscular thing whose body was like a mountain covered in a grey hide not unlike the skin of a rhinoceros, only many hundreds of bony plates were fixed over the rough skin. On top of that, the creature seemed to wear a sort of harness made from brazen chains and hooks. Its legs were as thick as trees, with three enormous claw-like toes. Its arms made all the muscle-builders' arms in the world look like twigs, ending in massive hands with four clawed fingers and a thumb. In these hands the creature held a massive hammer made from pitch black metal, inscribed with glowing red glyphs that burned angrily with an inner fire. The creature's head was like an armored dome, with a pair of fiery eyes glaring out form under a beetled brow. Rows of jagged, discolored fangs peeked out from ragged black lips. A pair of holes like those of a death's head skull served as a nose, and plumes of steam issued forth from them with each breathe of the monster. All in all, this thing was a killing machine. Luckily for Bret and his crew, it wasn't interested in them. It stood amidst a collection of craters that looked as if they had been smashed violently into the ground. It reared back, and roared loud enough to shake the very air and cause the earth to quake beneath their feet.

"Titans!" the beast cried out at the top of his lungs in a voice that sounded as if stone slabs ground over each other in it's throat, resonant like the thunder of a distant explosion, and menacing like a barely veiled threat. "Titans! Where are you! Me want make you dead!" To punctuate this statement, it took its massive hammer and created another large crater in the ground. The force of the blow impacting the unmoving earth was enough to cause structural damage to the shopping complex, where many people huddled, unwilling to risk crossing the ruined plaza to the safety of the streets beyond. Fear of the monster standing amidst the craters calling for a battle with the Titans kept them rooted to where they stood within the meager protection of the shopping complex. Not that mattered any to the beast. The creature ignored everything else, save for the need to call out the Titans now and again in his horrible voice. Then, suddenly, the creature was blasted by a wide beam of azure energy from the side and then bombarded by a firestorm of volatile green explosions from the sky. A thick cloud of smoke arose all around the monster as it roared, whether from surprise or pain, no one could tell. Bret and his crew turned and saw a welcome sight. The cybernetic hero Cyborg standing on the far side of the plaza, the Tamaranian princess Starfire hovering above him, and the morphing elfin wonder that was Beast Boy beside him. The smoke cleared, revealing an agitated monster, who seemed infuriated though unharmed. He turned his flaming gaze upon the Titans and issued a bellowing war cry, "Titans! Me make you dead!"

Cyborg smirked, and replied, "Hey, ugly! Looking for us?" The monster roared out his fury and slammed the ground with the hammer, causing an undulating in the pavement not unlike a wave. The seismic attack was centered on Cyborg. "Alright, I guess that was a yes... Titans, go!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Part 4: Outclassed and Outwitted**

"Titans, go!" In moments, the battle escalated to a furious pace. The three heroes did not speak amongst themselves to formulate a plan or strategy. Their rigorous training kicked in as if by second thought. Dodging the deadly seismic strike, the three Titans promptly split up to assault the enormous creature. Starfire took to the skies, hovering around the battlefield to pelt the brute with heavy barrages of starbolts and optic beams. Cyborg added his own brand of firepower, launching sustained sonic cannon blasts, adding to the ruinous fire that fell around the monster. Beast Boy took advantage of the fire support contributed by his teammates and took on the form of his largest animal, a Tyrannosaurus Rex. With a thunderous roar of his own, the green terrible lizard charged the beast, massive jaws agape.

The monster was not impressed, to say the least. He weathered the continuous energy barrage as if it were merely the fall of rain from clouds above. When Beast Boy charged, the creature stood his ground. It slammed its hammer to the ground beside it and took on a hand-to-hand combat stance, its massive hands out before it. Beast Boy realized his error too late, and attempted to halt his bulk. Unfortunately, he was grabbed by impossibly powerful hands before he could stop his forward momentum, and was lifted high into the air over the monster's head as it cried once more,"Me make you dead!" And then proceeded to chuck him back across the plaza from whence he came.

"Beast Boy!" Starfire cried, seeing her friend sail through the air like a missile before impacting the ground and create a sizable furrow. She turned to look down on monster, eyes blazing a fiery emerald. She dove on the creature, firing sustained starbolt beams as she came. The blasts hammered into the monster's broad chest and pushed him back, but not very far. With a grunt of exertion the creature dug in his heels and resisted the forces directed against it. That is, up until it received a truly startling wake up call in the form of Starfire's fists plowing into its face. Each blow was delivered with all the righteous might of her Tamaranian fury, and each blow caused the gigantic beast to stagger back another step.

"Yeah, go Star!" Cyborg cheered, a wide grin on his face. He had rarely seen Starfire take a foe on in hand-to-hand, but when she did, it was always an invigorating sight. Beast Boy staggered up to him from behind, holding one arm and favoring one leg. "Dude, that thing hurts." he muttered, then saw what was happening and added, "But not as much as that! Whoa, she's really putting the smackdown on that guy!"

That was the moment that the creature grew truly agitated, and picked up it's hammer once again. Cyborg and Beast Boy ceased cheering, the smiles disappeared from their faces as they saw what was going to happen. They tried to warn her, but they never were able to speak in time. The beast roared and swung its hammer in a savage blow so mighty and swift that it took Starfire and smashed her through the air, across the plaza, and into a skyscraper on the far side and out the other. Cyborg was pissed now, his fists clenched before him as he stared at the creature, which now laughed at the destruction it wrought. Part of him wanted to go see if Starfire was okay, but then that meant leaving this walking nightmare alone with all these innocents. Beast Boy apparently had the same thought, because he turned and started to head in that direction in the form of a cheetah. "Beast Boy, never mind! Starfire's tougher than that, one hit is not going to kill her!"

Beast Boy turned back, defiance in his eyes. "How do you know! Look at that thing! We haven't even made it break a sweat! That one hit could have been all it needed with that humongous hammer!"

Just then, a certain Boy Wonder decided to ride up on his motorcycle. He flipped up his visor and said, "Then let's make it sweat."

"Robin! What's going on! Where's Raven?" Beast Boy inquired, turning back into his elfin form. Robin jerked a thumb behind him, at the skyscraper with a hole in it. "Raven's tending to Starfire. She's hurt, but not too bad. A little healing magic, and she'll be ready to rejoin the fight. However, that... _thing_... has got to be stopped! You've tried individual attacks against it, and that hasn't worked, has it?"

Both Cyborg and Beast Boy nodded grimly. Robin nodded as well and said, "Just as I thought. Looks like some good ole fashioned team work is going to have to come into play!"

As if on cue, Raven and Starfire flew overhead. "So, what did we miss?" the goth sorceress inquired, her gaze directed at the creature.

"Nothing much." Robin replied, "But, you are in time to join in on a team play! Starfire, how are you feeling?"

Starfire smiled, though she flew lower in the air than normal. She was bruised, cut, and scraped and had been bleeding from a nasty gash over one eye. But, Raven's restorative powers had mended what it could, lending her a second wind. "I have felt better, friend Robin. That creature most certainly is strong! I suggest that we exercise extreme caution when next confronting it."

Robin smiled back at her and said, "Don't worry, Star. I've got a plan." Meanwhile, while all this had transpired, the creature had been studying the new arrivals. It didn't like it that its latest playthings had left it alone, though it was a little surprised that the red-haired one was still alive. Then again, with the limited cognizant ability that the creature's small, rage-filled mind was allowed, he didn't doubt with more strength he'd eventually kill them all. And, it didn't want to wait. "Titans! We want make you dead! Come fight, or me smash stuff! NOW!"

The Titans turned, newly resolved by the arrival of the entire team. Robin looked sternly upon the massive beast and smirked, "Alright, whatever-you-are, your going down! Hard!" With that, his plan sprung into action. He charged the creature as Starfire and Cyborg began another barrage of fire support. Raven used her telekinesis and raised hunks of pavement, twisted lengths of steel, wrecked cars, anything at hand to be made into heavy missiles. Beast Boy transformed into eagle and soared high above the fight, awaiting his signal to contribute his own special talents. The monster roared and growled in frustration as sonic cannon blasts, starbolts, and Raven's heavy artillery struck him en masse. Even more infuriating was the little human who ran around him, agile as can be, dodging his agitated hammer strokes and arm sweeps. The massive beast was intimidating, and dangerous, Robin recognized. A single tag from either it's bare hands or it's hammer would have broken every bone in his body. So, he used his superior athleticism and agility to dance harmlessly around the mammoth attacks. All the while, he attacked with his bo staff, admitting that he did little to nil in terms of damage. He made up for it with small, but powerful demolition charges planted directly onto his foe with an especially potent adhesive gel. When he had placed somewhere around a dozen of the devices all around the beast, he dashed away. At the same time, the barrage from Starfire, Cyborg, and Raven ended. Left unmolested, the creature looked around, confused. Robin held up a small device that had a blinking green light on it's tip. "See this, big guy?"

As if in response, the creature turned and roared fiercely at the Titan leader. Robin smirked and waved at it, "See ya!" Then, he pressed the button. The creature then realized it's mistake as it disappeared in sympathetic detonations. Beast Boy, flying high above, saw his cue. He transformed into a massive sperm whale and dropped like a bomb atop the hopefully reeling creature. With a monumental crash, he slammed whatever was left the beast into the explosion's crater. The rest of the Titans gathered around as the dust cleared, with Robin feeling quite assured of their victory.

"Wow... I didn't think that would work..." Raven muttered. Robin shot a look at her and then called to Beast Boy, "Alright, come on up! Let's see what's left."

A pause, then. "Um, guys...! Help!" To their horror, Beast Boy, in all his sperm whale glory, was tossed up out of the crater high into the air. A massive form followed him, the intact monster flew up in a jump that shook the ground, hammer overhead. Before Beast Boy could transform, the creature flew up overhead and drove a two-handed, overhead slam into him. The sound of the blow connecting was like thunder as the sperm whale came sailing down and created another crater. The concussive force from the impact sent the others sprawling. The creature landed, breathing hard, "Good try, Titans! Now, it my turn! ME... MAKE... YOU... DEAD! RAAARRGH!"

Robin was the first to recover, climbing to his feet, horror plain on his face. He couldn't believe it! The plan he had devised should have brought down Atlas, for Pete's sake! And this monstrosity only got angrier! To matters worse, there was Beast Boy. He had transformed back into his elfin form from the trauma of that last attack. He hadn't moved or uttered a sound from where he lay. It was almost certain he had sustained a critical injury. Robin saw the rest of the Titans slowly regaining their feet. Cyborg, Raven, and Starfire all looked badly roughed up. He doubted their will to fight. They didn't look like they could last another round with this monster. He watched as they took up defensive stances as the creature closed with them, it's weapon held high. Cyborg closed to trade punches with the thing while Raven attempted to impede its ability to parry incoming attacks by seizing it's weapon in her telekinetic grasp. Starfire turned to see Robin staring at the battle, unmoving. "Friend Robin, what do we do now! The plan has not succeeded! And Beast Boy is gravely injured! We cannot last much longer!"

"Just hold on a bit longer, Star!" He called back, feeling a struggle within him. One side of him couldn't admit to the fact that this thing was stronger than all of them, wanted to stay and fight to the end. But, he knew that choice would lead to Beast Boy's probable death. And, the total destruction of his team, leaving the city completely undefended. On the other hand, a tactical withdrawal would spare his friends but put the city in danger, at least temporarily, as the Titans recovered. As he pondered what to do, he witnessed Cyborg lose an arm to the monster. The beast just overpowered him and tore the mechanical limb from its socket with one savage pull. Then, he turned the former body part into a makeshift bludgeon, and beat Cyborg down onto his knees with a series of blows that mangled the arm and put the mechanical hero down for the count. Raven, overcome with emotion, attempted to strike directly at the offender with her dark magic, only to have a terrific seismic counterattack knock her violently to the ground. At that moment, he made his fateful decision. He raced to his motorcycle and hopped on, revving the engine. He raced into the thick of the rapidly deteriorating conflict and aimed his vehicle straight at the monster. He timed it just right so that when he leapt off, the motorcycle plowed right into the monster's head and disintegrated in a fiery, shrapnel-filled explosion. The monster roared in pain and was carried back half a dozen steps by the surprise attack and the sheer momentum, before falling down unconscious, it's head smoking.

Robin landed, rolled forward agilely over his shoulder, and managed to get back on his feet. He looked back on their felled foe, unbelieving that his desperate move had worked so well. Then, he turned and said, "Starfire, get Beast Boy and head for the tower! Raven, grab Cyborg and teleport us away! We can't win!"

The two female Titans looked at him, basically flabbergasted. Robin, ordering the retreat? Unheard of! Behind him, however, the monster stirred again. It moaned and sat up, rubbing a fire-scarred head. Its eyes refocused out of its pain-filled haze upon the trio of remaining Titans, narrowing, unmistakable in intent. "Hurry, let's go! We have no time!"

"Too late, I'm exhausted." Raven told him, "And I don't think Starfire can manage to lift herself, let alone Beast Boy, too." Then, suddenly pointing at the monster, she added, "Look out!"

Robin turned to see the monster had regained his feet and was now stalking towards them, hammer ready for a killing blow. His mind raced as his body automatically assumed a battle stance. He'd have to try and buy the others some time to evacuate. "Starfire, Raven, I know your hurting, but you've got to get Cyborg and Beast Boy away from that thing. I'm going to try and run interference for you. Move as fast as you can, alright?"

"But, Robin, he will surely kill you!" Starfire protested, "Did you not see the ease with which he has withstood our attacks? I have withstood his strength, just barely. Robin, you mustn't..."

Raven shook her head, "Starfire... We've got to go. He'll be fine." Reluctantly, she agreed, and the two went to assist their fallen comrades. Robin turned and charged the monster, shouting a fierce battle cry as he went. The pent up frustration, fear, and anger built within him as he closed with the beast and began to assail it with two-handed blows from his bo staff. The creature, meanwhile, withstood the blows without receiving any harm. Issuing a series of huffing grunts that might have been laughter, it tried to backhand Robin away. Robin saw the move, anticipated it, and evaded the attack much to the monster's chagrin. He rolled to a new position and began to assault the monster once again, ignoring the fact that no matter how strong his attacks, his foe would only shrug it off. This went on for four more changes of position before the monster truly became annoyed, and struck the ground a blow so powerful that the resulting shockwave sent the Boy Wonder rocketing through the air, head over heels. Starfire cried out from where she was helping hoist an unmoving Cyborg out of his resting place at the bottom of a shallow crater. Raven gasped in horror, watching as the monster strode over to stand above the grounded Titan leader. He had landed hard, violently, and had not succeeded in rising to his feet to continue the fight.

The monster sensed victory. It stood over its fallen foe, and grinned maliciously. "You... weak, me... strong. Me be merciful, and make you dead quick! Lie still, Titan bug! Me squash you good!" The monster then lifted it's hammer over its head, and began to growl. The growl turned into a roar, and he began to swing down, the head of the hammer aiming for the head of the young man below. Time seemed to slow down as Robin saw the black metal head come soaring in to end him.

Then, something miraculous happened. There was an impossibly bright flash of light from the sky above. A flash of heat and sound came rocketing down from on high, smashing the ground just behind the monster. A pillar of golden fire had fallen from the heavens and planted itself in the midst of this battlefield. Out of this strange aberration charged a gigantic machine, made in a humanoid shape. This machine was only a story shorter than the monster, and with one oversized fist, it punched the monster square in the chest. The blow knocked the creature backwards and caused it to make a long trench by its passing. Following the machine out of the pillar of fire was a young man, no more than seventeen years of age. He wore a brilliant white robes adorned with golden runes, trimmed with azure blue. He had short, silvered hair and one golden-sapphire eye, his other covered with an metal eyepatch made of a silvery metal etched with black lines. He held a staff of gold with blue writing in one hand, which seemed to shine from within like a sun. The pillar of fire extinguished itself behind him as soon as he had stepped forth from it. Then, a profound silence fell over the area. The newcomer surveyed the Titans, the enemy than had been fighting, and the destruction wrought over the area.

His gaze finally settled on Robin, who had felt many of his bones break in that final blow. To him, he said, "Valiant are they who know not what they oppose, yet do not feign away from conflict. You are injured, brave warrior. I have the power to heal you. You don't trust me, I know this and understand it. Do not fear me, though, for I am on your side. Now, rest..." Robin could only look on, feeling the pain, at this strange person. This person, who came from a pillar of fire that fell from the sky. He didn't know if that had been real, or a figment of his pain-filled mind. The next thing he felt was a cool, tingling sensation flow throughout his body, replacing the dull ache of his injuries. His mind was calmed and he fell into a deep sleep.

The mysterious stranger's attention then turned to the others, who stared at him, eyes wide and mouths open. He nodded to them, and seemed to say something under his breathe. Raven and Starfire also fell asleep, their considerable wounds healing as they slumbered. The stranger exerted this strange restorative aura upon the inert form of Beast Boy, and tried to do the same for Cyborg. His efforts were hampered though, because of Cyborg's mechanical parts. Not worried, he realized he'd have to work on those parts himself. But, first things first. An abomination stood not far away, an extra planar monster of chaos, destruction, and malice. It had caused far too much damage and pain to be simply sent back. No, the stranger knew that such actions could only be recompensed with swift, deadly judgement. "You, who are in service to my enemy, beast not of this world! Listen to me! I come to throw down your master and his designs!"

The monster shouted, roared, and bellowed his fury and his fear. He knew whom he faced. His power drove all reason from the monster's mind. The monster charged. The machine guardian met him head on, and parried a blow from his hammer in one gigantic metal hand, tearing the weapon from it's grasp and knocking it backwards in one fluid motion. The stranger stretched out an open hand and recited a trio of arcane syllables from memory, his voice not his own as he called for mystic energies to bend to his will. Energy, light, and heat struck like a golden spear from his bare palm in an instant, it's awesome fury crossing the space between the stranger and the monster in the blink of an eye with devastating affect. When it struck the creature, the beast began to howl and rage as never before, flailing around in agony as it turned white-hot and slowly faded from existence, leaving a few wisps of vapor. In seconds, perhaps the most dangerous foe the Titans had ever faced so far had been quietly erased in a brief display of light and heat. Then, the stranger lowered his arm and shook his head. "Such a waste."

He looked to the sleeping Titans and if one looked, could have seen a hint of remorse in his one good eye. "So, these are the best this world has to offer as a defense against him? I can only pray they survive. If they do, they shall curse my name for eternity." With a gesture, the stranger, his mechanical minion, and the sleeping heroes were whisked away in a flash of light.

From across the city, the eyes of Saevan snapped open as he woke form a scrying spell's trance. He growled in his throat as he rose from his seat on the metal floor within Slade's base of operations. The criminal mastermind stood nearby, hands clasped behind him. "I trust that your adversary has arrived."

"Yes, he has arrived, the cur." Saevan replied, his voice tight with barely contained rage, "He has come, but lucky for us he is weakened from his long journey. His powers will slowly increase back to their maximum potential over the next few weeks. We must act quickly!"

Slade blinked his one visible and said, "Of course. My android soldiers have already overpowered the guards at the museum. I've programmed them to search for the Sceptre, as you instructed. That... thing... you summoned achieved wonderful results, if I may say so."

Saevan waved the poorly constructed and insincere compliment dismissively. "It was a mere Demolugon, a lesser creature from the demi-plane of destruction. It lasted all of a minute against my nemesis. For our next endeavor, I must summon something with more bite, more staying power... But, what? That is the question!" He began the Onyx Grimoire leafing through it's voluminous passages.

"What _is_ our next endeavor, Saevan? My androids will have the Sceptre of the Adamant King in our grasp within hours." Slade inquired.

Saevan abruptly ended his search of the Onyx Grimoire and looked to Slade. "Our next endeavor is a simple one. We charge the Sceptre with sufficient power to activate it, then follow the indications it will lay down to the Shaper's Forgeworks. Then, nothing could possibly stop us." He went back to the Grimoire and added, "But, if left unchecked, my nemesis will come against us with his construct familiar and his full array of arcane sorcery. He could be the undoing of all our designs!"

"He won't have the chance." Slade remarked, "As soon as he shows himself, I will destroy him, just as I promised."

Raven returned to consciousness with a start, expecting to see the terrible monster from before standing over her with it's hammer marked with the blood of her friends. However, when her vision cleared and her breathing returned to normal, she found herself back in her room on her bed, in the dark.

"My room? But, I was just fighting that thing..." Raven muttered to herself, a hand to her forehead. She tried to recall what happened. All she remembered was a fierce struggle that ended with Beast Boy and Cyborg being seriously injured. She gasped. "Beast Boy and Cyborg being seriously injured!" She whipped her legs over the side of her bed and stood. Fighting a momentary bout of dizziness, she stumbled to the door and palmed the control to unlock it. The doors parted and she stepped out into the hall. The tower was dark and quiet, with only the emergency lights on along the floor. This further unsettled her. Why wasn't the power on? She wondered if what had happened before had gotten worse. Could there be an intruder in the tower? Where was everyone else? Raven resolved to find out on her own. She headed for the rest of the quarters. The first one she came to was Starfire's. The door was shut and locked, like her own. She phased through the door, an act that she not have normally have done in other circumstances. However, this was one time when her ability to negotiate solid material barriers in order to gain entry to another Titan's room could be used without guilt.

Inside, she found Starfire asleep in her bed as well. Upon closer inspection, she seemed to be uninjured and in good health. "Starfire! Starfire, wake up!" Raven nudged her with one hand, trying to wake the slumbering alien. No use, Starfire just rolled over and mumbled something about Robin and a swimming pool filled with mustard. Raven tried to ignore that comment and decided it was better to let sleeping aliens lie, if there was no immediate harm done. Her curiosity wasn't appeased, however, and she went and checked on Robin and Beast Boy as well. In the end, her fears subsided somewhat, for Beast Boy seemed to be okay and Robin was well, too. She was padding her way through the halls to her last destination, Cyborg's room, an attached engineering bay to the tower's garage. From around the corner, she saw a light on, and heard the sound of a torch hissing and some kind of mechanical work going on. Wondering if perhaps Cyborg was up and working on one of his infamous projects, she peeked around the corner. At that moment, all her fears returned a hundred fold, as seated there at Cyborg's desk was a stranger. And, what was more, he was disassembling an unmoving Cyborg!


	5. Chapter 5

**Part 5: Naveas's Tale**

"STOP!" the word struck like thunder. The stranger's head whipped around over his shoulder to train one blue and gold eye on Raven. Before he could stand, she thrust out a hand encased in dark power, chanting, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

"Wait, it's not what it – ! Urk!" a constricting hand of dark energy wrapped around the stranger's torso, lifting him up and slamming him into the far wall and pinned him there where he gasped for breathe in agony. Raven maintained her spell of binding as she came into the room and surveyed Cyborg more closely. His bio-cybernetic body showed signs of recent battle, having been dented and crushed in various locations. One arm had been ripped from a shoulder socket and reduced to it's underlying metal skeleton framework, the artificial musculature and synthetic nervous conductors fried or torn. A scowl on her face, she raised her gaze up to the stranger's, "What have you done to him!"

The stranger opened his mouth, made sounds as if he was attempting to speak. Rage, frustration, confusion built within her. She bared her teeth and hissed, "Answer me, bastard!"

"Friend Raven?" a voice called from the doorway behind her. Raven gasped, and spun to see Starfire, Robin, and Beast Boy. They must have just heard the commotion and had come to see what was going on. Concern was evident on their faces. Robin looked more than concerned. He looked downright pissed off, his eyebrows knitted over his mask, a grim set to his lips. He said, "Raven, release him."

"Robin, are you insane! This intruder... he... he's done something to Cyborg, he's compromised our security! He might be an enemy and you want to release him!" Raven replied, her voice quickly building in volume and intensity.

"Be tranquil, Raven. There is much to be explained but no need for anger, yet." Starfire assured her, her voice soothing. Raven remembered herself and shunted all the rage from herself.

"If you don't want to let him go, just loosen your grip on him, okay? That way, we can get some answers." Beast Boy added, smiling weakly. He obviously had no way of knowing how he should react. Raven sensed a mixture of emotions in him. Worry for Cyborg, curiosity as to who the intruder was, and fear. Fear of Raven and her powers when she lost control to her inner fury. That caught her attention, and she complied. She lessened her spell of binding's potency. The stranger responded to the decreased pressure with great, sucking breathes as he coughed and gasped. Robin waited for him to catch his breathe before asking, "Now that you can speak, just what the hell is going on?"

"My... apologies. I had thought... that you would sleep until I was... finished." the stranger replied, still winded. "Obviously, your friend Raven has powerful innate magical resistance. I am most impressed!"

"Why were we asleep in the first place, that's what we want to know. And, what was it that you hoped to finish?" Robin inquired, "If you don't start giving me answers, I'll allow Raven to start exerting more pressure on you again. Was it fun having the air crushed from you?"

"Dude!" Beast Boy exclaimed, horrified, "Your going to torture him? C'mon, the guy's pretty suspicious, but we don't have to stoop that low! Right?"

"Not now, Beast Boy." Raven snapped, her tone telling him she would not brook any further interruptions of the interrogation. Robin took his cue, "Well, what's it going to be?"

"Fine, I shall explain. You have no need for threats." the stranger replied, "Your friend is gravely injured from your last battle, the battle in which I intervened on your behalf in order to save you all from premature destruction." He noticed all the blank stares they glared at him. "I see you do not remember the ordeal. My healing magic may have had an affect not similar to traumatic event repression. You may not remember it yet."

Raven, however, felt an odd feeling at the back of her mind. She focused on it for a moment, wondering what it was. Suddenly, a vision of a battle with a truly monstrous foe was played back for her. She saw all that had happened. The apparent ineffectiveness of their attacks, the fall of Beast Boy, Cyborg's defeat, and Robin nearly becoming a bloody stain on the broken pavement. She saw the arrival of the stranger from a pillar of fire from the sky. She remembered, and she canceled the spell of binding.

"Friend Raven, are you well?" Starfire inquired, seeing Raven's facial expression change. Raven nodded, "I'm fine. Listen, he's telling the truth. I remember everything that he's talking about."

"Say what!" Beast Boy exclaimed. Robin looked to the goth sorceress, trying to see if perhaps she was not herself. She returned the steady gaze and said, "Robin, he saved your life. He saved all our lives. He can trust him, for now."

"Actually, there is still one life left to save." the stranger said, picking himself up and dusting himself off. "Your mechanical friend is still in need of repair work. Now, will you let me finish? You all have my word of honor that no harm shall come to him, and he shall be arisen good as new when I am done."

Robin stared at him, uncertainty obvious in his every fiber. "You haven't proven anything to us yet, let alone your 'honor'. Just know this: if Cyborg doesn't recover when your done tinkering with him, you'll answer to us." The threat veiled in that statement was one promising of vicious reprisal. As he turned to leave, he emphasized it, saying, "Titans take care of their own, remember that."

Then, he left. Starfire and Beast Boy left with him. Raven stayed behind. The stranger looked at her, she stared back. An uneasy silence prevailed for all of about a minute. "Why have you stayed behind?" he asked, finally.

"You didn't think I'd just leave, did you?" Raven replied, "It would be a foolish move to leave you alone, after remembering what your capable of."

The stranger turned around, taking up the tools again. He began to work. As he worked, he said, "You saw nothing. You know nothing, not yet. But, let me just say, that I am not the one you should fear."

Raven continued to stare defiantly at his back. "Who said anything about fear?" The stranger laughed as he worked. "You will know it before the end. At first, everyone is overly secure in their own power. But, when they realize what they face, they all eventually succumb to fear. If you and your friends do not, it will be a first."

"What is this thing that we must fear, then? Was it that monster?" Raven inquired, trying to keep her cool. Who was this guy? And where did he come off being so damned arrogant? The stranger put down one tool and took up another, his work progressing at a fantastic pace. "That monster you faced was merely a lowly minion of the great enemy. A Demolugon, a creature born on the demi-plane of destruction, summoned to your world as a pawn. You could not even deal with that!"

"What did you expect us to do! Nothing we tried worked!" Raven told him, her voice heated with building anger. The stranger ceased his work, and looked over his shoulder at her. "I suggest you calm down. I feel your daemonic side growing in strength." That statement took Raven aback as if she had been physically struck. The stranger turned and went back to work, not sparing her a moment to say anything else. The exchange so unnerved her that Raven left, not caring if the stranger was left alone or not. She needed to meditate, badly.

An hour later, the Titans were still waiting in the main room for their mysterious house guest to finish repairing Cyborg back to good health. The mood was too tense, too pent up with curiosity and worry that even Beast Boy couldn't enjoy playing video games. He and Starfire just sat on the couch, trying not to become too bored or impatient. Robin, however, was on the mainframe computer, trying to pass the time by checking all the news channel websites for headlines from the previous day. He needed proof of his own of the stranger's words. He had an inkling that something happened to them the other day, but just what had happened, he could not place a finger on. Then, he found something promising. A steaming video taken from the morning news that seemed all too familiar. He accessed the video.

"Hey, you guys might want to see this." Robin said. Beast Boy and Starfire joined him, watching raptly the images that played across the screen. They saw themselves struggling with the monstrous foe that the stranger spoke of. They saw how insignificant their efforts were, and how ultimately the battle turned against them. They saw everything. The video ended, leaving the three Titans with much to ponder.

At length, Beast Boy said, "So, Raven and what's- his - name are right... We got our butts whooped, big time."

"And, the stranger saved us all." Starfire added. Robin nodded, grimly. His mind was a whirlwind. He couldn't understand how they had failed so miserably. He made up his mind to grill the stranger for all and everything he knew. As if on cue, the stranger entered the room. He was followed by Cyborg, who was looking disoriented, a hand to his head.

"Ugh, did anyone get the number of the mountain that fell on me?" he muttered. "Cyborg!" Beast Boy and Starfire rushed over to their friend, joy evident in their features. Starfire clasped her hands before her, positively radiating with happiness. "Friend Cyborg, you are well! When we found you rendered to pieces, we were most concerned with your well being."

"Yeah, dude, you looked like someone pulled you out of a junkyard." Beast Boy added, grinning. Cyborg looked at them and replied, "Rendered to pieces? Pulled out of the junkyard? Just what the heck happened to me, then?"

"I can answer that." Raven replied, coming out of the elevator. "And, now that everyone is here, why don't we start a little question and answer session with our as yet unnamed guest?"

All eyes turned to gaze upon the stranger, who had remained silent up until this point. He gazed back at them and then nodded, "I suppose I owe you that much. Come, make yourselves comfortable. This might take some time to properly educate you on the depth of what may transpire here."

The titans took seats on the couches of the main room while the stranger took a place in the middle of the room to stand. When all was ready, the stranger said, "Now, where should I begin?"

"Start by telling us who you are. Then, tell us what happened yesterday. Where did that monster come from? And, who sent it?" Robin inquired, then added, "And don't think to scrimp on important details! I want to know everything that might be relevant." The stranger smiled and said, "All in good time. First things first, who am I? My name is Naveas, and I am a Solvani Solarii. The Solvani come from a world distant from your own, a world called Solavon. As to what you were fruitlessly doing battle with, that was a creature known as a Demolugon. A creature born on the demi-plane of destruction, it was summoned to your world. For what purpose, I do not know."

"It seemed most determined to slay us." Starfire remarked. Beast Boy added, "That's right, it kept calling for us! It was like... like someone wanted it to fight us."

"It was a distraction." Robin declared. "But, for what, I don't know." Naveas thought a moment and said, "Well, I suppose a distraction tactic should be expected. You see, the one behind the Demolugon's conjuration is an evil Solvani named Saevan. He fled Solavon after his overly ambitious actions doomed our world to an eternal night, baring our once beautiful planet to the harsh realities of the Void and it's merciless denizens. Billions died in the ensuing chaos as the unspeakable horrors of that dark place ran rampant over the land, destroying everything they met in their path. I attempted to reverse the damage, to mend the tear and push the Void back where it belonged, but it was no use. I left while I could to hunt him down. Over a hundred worlds has Saevan visited, and to each his desire for power has brought nothing but total annihilation. On each dying planet, I strove to repair what he has destroyed. However, I could never do enough, for fear of losing Saevan's trail amongst the astronomical distances between planets. Now, though, I have tracked him to this world, your world, where I intend to end this game of follow-the-leader. He hoped to buy time by summoning the Demolugon. Now, he has most likely sensed my arrival, and will summon other beings to the assault."

"So, then, the real task is to find out what Saevan is searching for, before he summons something too strong." Raven said. Naveas nodded, "Indeed, it has become a race of time. Saevan hopes to delay us, while we must find out his designs before they can come to fruition."

"So, what do we do?" Cyborg prompted. Naveas looked to Robin and said, "Do not take my words as a command. I do not deem myself in any position to order you about. However, I do suggest that a scan of your city be performed for any strange occurences. Robberies, murders, kidnappings, anything. Saevan's design may be directed to achieving power here, but by what method, I have yet not ascertained. While you do that, I must have access to all your weaponry and gear. For our next confrontation with his servants it is imperative that you be more effective in battle, and therefore shall I begin to strengthen your arsenal with my magic. We shall need all the strength and power we can muster."

"Alright, I'll get on that. Thanks for the suggestions." Robin said. "And as for the rest of you, get to some training. We've got to stay in top battle-readiness. We got lucky last time, the next time I want it to be our talent and skill that carries the day." Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Starfire filed out of the room, Robin's words echoing in their heads. As Raven started to leave, Robin caught her attention. "Raven, show Naveas to the armory. Watch him. Make sure he doesn't do anything..."

Raven blinked and said, "You still don't trust him completely?" Robin shook his head, "No, trust has only a part of this. I... I don't know, I feel that he isn't telling us everything. That, and he... he held back the other day. He's much stronger than he seems."

Raven smiled slightly, ever so slightly, "I guess those lessons in magic will continue to paid off. Your right, he's perhaps the strongest mage I've ever met personally. I'll be careful to watch him."

From across the room, Naveas watched this whispered exchange. He felt unease, knew it had to be about his intentions with their gear, and accepted it. "May I have an escort to your armory, now?"

"Right this way." Raven replied, motioning for him to follow her. Robin watched them leave and then turned back to the mainframe. He called up ten different search engines and began entering thorough cross referencing indexes. He sighed. They had a lot of work cut out for them.


	6. Chapter 6

**Part 6: All According to Plan**

"So, this is it?" Slade inquired, looking down at the wondrously light metal rod in his hand. The object had just been handed over to him by one of his faceless androids. The polished sheen of the surface shone brightly under the lights of his throne's dais. It had curious symbols and sigils sunk into its cold skin. "The Sceptre of the Adamant King? I must say, I am not impressed."

"The ancient Solvani were powerful, but not extravagant. Keep in mind it was not meant to advertise its power." Saevan replied, only mildly annoyed with Slade's apparently shallow appraisal of the artifact. "Rest assured though, once activated it shall banish all doubt from your mind."

"We shall see." Slade remarked, and set the device down on a display beside his seat. Not too far away, Saevan was once again poring through the Onyx Grimoire, his unsettling eyes tracking over the lines of alien script swiftly. Before him, he had prepared what he described as a "summoner's circle" on the cold stone floor of Slade's lair. Using special enchanted chalk, he had marked out strange swirling designs and images both magnificent and grotesque in what Slade assumed was the magical version of a target. Although curious, Slade had hesitated on asking the strange mystic just what he was preparing for. After all, he had been acting quite strangely since he had sensed the arrival of his "nemesis", whoever that was. Luckily, he would not have to wait long for an explanation.

"There!" Saevan exclaimed, smirking once again, "I believe I am finished. This summoning should not take too long."

"And, just what are you summoning this time?" Saevan glanced at Slade and then back to the circle. "In order for our plan to continue, the Sceptre must be charged for activation. Your mere power generators, reactors, and other forms of energy creation would never be able to amass the volume of raw force to power the Sceptre. So, I have decided to send a summons to the plane of air to call for a elder Maelstrom Bringer, a being in tune with the raw elemental energy prevalent in massive lightning storms. The Maelstrom Bringer should have sufficient power to charge the Sceptre."

"I see." Slade said, feeling some anticipation, "And, what of your enemy? He would surely find a way to meddle in our affairs. I was thinking we should do this sort of thing elsewhere, as the basis of a trap which would end his and the Titan's threat once and for all, before they can do any lasting harm."

Saevan thought a moment, the idea obviously intriguing him. "I suppose your suggestion holds merit. Fine, it shall be so. I shall leave this circle here, then. We may have need of it in the future. Now, just where were you thinking of laying your insidious trap?"

Slade's one visible eye narrowed as he spoke, the ambush visualized in his mind's eye, "I was thinking of the Bayside Power Plant. It would be more apropos for charging our device, with it's insulated structure and remote location. After all, if there is any... damage... done, I'd rather it be done elsewhere than my own home."

Elsewhere, twin metal blast doors part open slowly, allowing light from the hallway to spill in. Beyond them, a dark room beckons, filled with displays, counters, and storage spaces of every sort. Raven steps inside the cavernous expanse and palms a nearby control mechanism, activating the overhead lighting strips. Illumination floods the area. Naveas steps in behind her and gives the room an appraising look. "So, this is your tower's armory then?"

"Yes, everything useful for battle is usually stored here. We do have a separate holding area for items we... appropriate from defeated villains." Raven replied, watching as he strolled farther into the room.

He turned to look at her directly, "A sort of trophy room, then?" Raven shrugged and replied, "I guess you could call it that."

Naveas nodded, and continued forward. "Anyway, back to the matter at hand." He made a gesture in the air. The sound of drawers sliding open and cabinet doors swinging ajar filled the air. Items of all sorts floated out and settled on display tables and counters, arranging themselves neatly. Raven watched passively on the outside, though within she was trying to comprehend the amount of magic power he had just given off. "You know, I could have just had done that by myself." she deadpanned, "I mean, do you use magic all the time for such trivial things?"

Naveas glanced at her briefly before turning to take stock of the weaponry hoard, "I am not so slothful as to waste my energy. However, time is valuable. Spells that allow me to do more in a small amount of time are never a waste. But, of course, I must be careful how I expend energy. Many magic incantations of my repertoire are quite strong, and thus cost a proportional amount of power to utilize."

Raven quirked an eyebrow. She had thought this guy might have more juice in him, but for some reason this explanation made her feel... better, in a way. "Really? So, you have incredible magic powers but can only use them for a limited time?"

Naveas was examining some of Robin's bo staffs, then, picking them up and extending them to feel their weight and balance. Engrossed in his work, he spoke in a detached tone."Yes, that is the long and short of it. Furthermore, since I used quite a taxing spell, the Pillar of the Celestials, in order to traverse the cosmos, I will be even weaker than usual."

"So, what good are you, then? If this... Saevan... is as powerful as you were hinting at earlier with the others, what can you really do to match him?" Raven inquired, starting to feel a little alarmed at what he was saying. She shuddered inside, thinking about going up against another of Saevan's summoned slaves. The team truly was lucky last time. Without Naveas's help, the next time could end very differently.

"A good question, that." Naveas replied, and turned to face her, "Even if I am diminished magically, I have yet other skills to add to the cause. But, before I run dry, I have at least three more large castings still in me. One I shall use to enchant your group's armaments as best I can while I conserve the other two, in case of emergency use."

"Good plan." Raven remarked emotionlessly. She couldn't think of anything else to say. Naveas took that as a cue, and launched into his casting. Muttering a long stream of arcane words and phrases in a voice not his own, he gestured agilely with his hands and fingers, forming what Raven could only guess were components to a spell. She watched as his one eye took on distant, far-away look. Swirling winds built around him as energy began to crackle and pop in the air. A shimmering affect fell on the Titan's things, and after the whole thing was over, a gentle golden glow remained upon them. Naveas ended his casting, taking a deep breathe as he did. The energy dissipated and the unnatural wind calmed. He supported himself against a counter, looking as if he had just ran a marathon. "There... now when equipped, your armaments shall inflict damage as normal. Saevan's summoned creatures will no longer be as difficult as before."

Raven gazed at him a moment. "That really did take a lot out of you, didn't it?" Naveas nodded, "Yes, it did. Can you tell?"

"You may have already sensed something, but I am somewhat empathetic. That, and I know a few things about magic, too. You used Arkil's Arming Ritual, didn't you?"

Naveas smiled slightly, an brought himself upright again, "My own variation, actually. But close. Now, shall we rejoin your friends? I hope your friend Robin may have a lead to work with."

Raven toggled the lights as he strode out of the door into the hall. "If I know the Boy Wonder, he will have at least ten leads by now."

In fact, ten minutes later in the training room, Robin was giving the others a very thorough briefing. Raven and Naveas entered as was just about to begin speaking. He stopped and turned to look at them expectantly. "Well? Did it work?"

"Of course it worked." Naveas replied, his voice tinged with slight offense. "I never said it might not. However, I must warn you that I am down to only two more castings."

"Wait, what? Only two more!" Beast Boy exclaimed from where he ran on a tread mill in the form of a green leopard. When Robin gave him a quizzical look, Raven added, "He explained it to me as he worked on our things. He's weak now from traveling here. Normally, he would be able to maintain enough magic energy to cast a full compliment of spells. However, because he just arrived, he's limited to how many spells he can cast."

Robin frowned, "You could have told us that earlier, you know. I was counting on you to give us some real firepower should our weapons fail to make a dent like last time."

"I take it you found a lead?" Raven said. Robin nodded, "I did, actually. Now, if everyone will listen up, I'll lay it out."

The other titans finished their training and did just that. When Robin was certain that he had everyone's undivided attention, he launched into his explanation. "I did a full spectrum scan of all the events that took place in the city in the last forty eight hours. Besides the newscast of us getting schooled, not much else happened. However, one interesting thing did happen around the same time. Slade's android goons sacked the Jump City Historical Society of Antiquities, knocking out the guards while they had their run of the place. The odd thing is, only one of the priceless artifacts was missing when police arrived and started to process the scene of the crime. The Society's inventory ledger had it listed as a sort of oddity, a piece resembling a sceptre of a king's court. A sceptre which scholars have had a hard time placing in terms of its date of creation, who it was crafted for, and where the styles evident in its form sprang from."

"So, Slade went and stole some dead king's sceptre? Weird." Beast Boy remarked. Cyborg put a metal hand to his chin, "Hmmm, the only motive I would see in stealing something like that would be to make some money."

"But, that does not make sense." Starfire interjected, "Is it not understood that Slade has all the financial resources that he requires?"

"Star's right, I think there is a deeper reason behind the theft." Robin added, "And, I also have a good hunch that our very own Slade has most likely allied himself with Saevan."

"Dude, no way!" Beast Boy exclaimed, eyes wide at the apparent implications. "I mean, Slade was bad by himself. This Saevan dude seems pretty bad, too. But... put the two together, that's a whole lot of bad, man!"

Raven rolled her eyes, "How charmingly poetic." Before a retort could be thought up, let alone uttered, Naveas spoke. "A sceptre, say you? By any chance, you didn't happen to procure a picture of this thing?"

Robin blinked, detecting hints of trouble upon Naveas's face. Something unsettled him. "Actually, I did print out a picture. Why?"

"Would you allow me to view this picture, please? It is of the utmost importance." Naveas replied, his tone entirely serious. Almost urgent, in fact. He took a file folder from where he had held it in his hands and opened it, fished out a small color photo, and handed it to the strange mage. Naveas took the photo and gazed intently upon it. It looked as if he was trying to make a positive identification. Then, he lowered the hand with the photo to the side, and closed his eyes. "It is just as I had feared."

"What?" Robin inquired, "I thought I had told you to tell us everything relevant!" Naveas opened his eyes again and handed the photo back, "I did. I also said that I was not sure how Saevan plans to achieve power on your world. But, that has changed now. This object that was stolen by the man you call Slade, it is a powerful magical artifact made by my people long ago. It is a sort of key and a map, able to lead those who possess it to a hidden reliquary of the most advanced weaponry the Solvani have ever conceived." With grim finality, Naveas looked amongst them all and said, "Saevan seeks command of the Adamant King."

"The what?" Beast Boy exclaimed. Raven thought to herself and murmured, "Somehow, that sounds familiar..."

But, before anyone else could say anything more, the Titan's crime alert klaxon sounded. Robin led the way as the entire group made for the main room and the central computer housed therein. After a quick flurry of fingers across the keyboard, information began to flow across the screen. Robin read it and said, "I don't think this is a coincidence, but it looks as if Slade's androids have been spotted over at the Bayside Power Plant! And, something strange is going on there..." Sure enough, just as Robin's voice trails off, a sub-window opens to reveal a life newscast feed of the Bayside Power Plant. Dark, ominous black storm clouds hung unnaturally low to the ground and a twisting alien mist surrounded the structure, seemingly emanating from within. Even from a picture such as this, the Titans knew something frightening was taking place within the building. Naveas stared at the screen as if he already knew, and muttered as if speaking a curse, "Saevan..."


	7. Chapter 7

**Part 7: Maelstrom**

Mere minutes after the alarm sounded, the Titans promptly vacated the tower in their haste en route to Bayside Power and the latest site of strange occurences. Each member took to their own methods for transportation. Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy flew. Cyborg hopped into the T-car along with Robin, who would have gone on his motorcycle if it hadn't already been annihilated, and they burned rubber. Naveas stood in the palm of his construct familiar Gilgas, the same three-story silvery humanoid golem that the others had seen the day before in battle with the Demolugon. The massive machine had stood guard over the tower as the titans had slept, watching for signs of further attack. It had both startled and impressed the titans with its appearance. Now, it transported its master swiftly and efficiently towards the Bayside Power Plant.

Moments later, the team arrived in an area with a great vantage point onto the bay, mere blocks from the nearest residential districts. The Bayside Power Plant was simply a plain concrete building that was fairly long and wide, with attached storage tanks for generator fuel and exhaust stacks issuing from the flat roof to tower to the sky above. Surrounding the central structure was a lot of pavement, filled mostly with old containers and rusted vehicles. Stacks of barrels and old crates also littered the industrial setting, and provided much needed cover as the Titans plus Naveas huddled up. Gilgas, because of his sheer height and lack of stealth, had been left elsewhere, so as not to be so conspicuous. They surveyed the structure silently, noting further the mass of vapors that issued from the building's windows and doors. The dark clouds above only hovered over the immediate area, providing an ominous ceiling to what would proceed. Also, at this close proximity, the electrified scent of ionized air, ozone, was present on the air. The same scent that followed lightning strikes during a thunder storm.

So far, no sign of Slade's android soldiers had been seen. But, that wasn't saying much, Robin knew. He turned back to face the others. "Well, we're here. Slade and his toys are in there somewhere, but I'm getting a bad vibe from all these mists and clouds. Naveas, you said that Saevan might be here. Would any of this be his doing?"

Naveas stared grimly at the power plant yonder. "I am certain Saevan is here, now. Yes, this unnatural weather is his doing. I... I can't be certain, but he may have summoned another creature."

"Oh man, just our luck!" Beast Boy whines, his ears drooping, "We're going to get owned again!"

Raven rolled her eyes, "Are you forgetting the spells that Naveas applied?" Beast Boy grinned sheepishly, "Maybe...

Cyborg clenches a fist where he kneels beside a stack of crates, "Man, I hate this waiting! If Slade and this Saevan guy is in there, we should definitely go lay the smackdown on 'em!"

"Cool it, Cyborg." Robin says, "Rushing in headlong may be what they are expecting us to do. We need to have a plan."

Starfire clasped her hands before her, a grin of boundless joy on her face. "Yes, a stratagem would prove most beneficial here!"

Naveas looked at them, then directed his gaze back to the power plant wreathed in shrouding mist, "Then I suggest you lay your plans quickly. I feel that the longer we wait, the worse off we shall be when the battle is joined."

"Alright then, I'll keep the plan simple. Starfire, Beast Boy, enter the building through those broken windows. You'll approach the scene from above. Cyborg and I will enter through some of those side service doors, hopefully to catch whatever is going on inside in a pincer. I already know that Raven can teleport when she needs to. Naveas, can you?"

Naveas turned his gaze from the power plant long enough to reply, saying, "Remember what I said earlier, Robin. My magic is limited to only two more castings for the immediate future. If I use one of them for a spell of conveyance, that leaves one left. Saevan may not be bound by such limitations. I would not like to be left with a single spell if I should have to confront his magic in the coming battle. However, since you are the leader, it is your decision alone. I just wish for you to consider all the circumstances."

Robin frowns and says, "Good point. You might be our ace in the hole should things go south. Save both your spells, then. Raven?"

Raven sighed as if slightly perturbed, "If I must, I could teleport both of us. Let's... just not make a habit of it, okay?"

Naveas smirked lightly, and then nodded, "As you wish." Then, his brief moment of joviality was gone. He set his features in a serious manner and said, "Now that your plan is prepared, shall we mount the attack?"

Robin nodded, also serious, "Yes, let's. Titans, go!"

The titans left their cover. Cyborg and Robin sprinted for separate service entrances, Starfire and Beast Boy, in the form of a bat, flew for the windows. Raven and Naveas disappeared in a flash of black energy. Inside, Cyborg and Robin threaded their way through narrow, dimly light service passages into a central room, choked with generator equipment, piping of all sizes, valves of all sorts, and raised catwalks with control stations. Starfire and Beast Boy were above in battle readiness, but having arrived first in the central room they espied nothing suspicious. Raven and Naveas teleported in last, arriving in the middle of the room. The air in the central room was thick with mist, just enough to make seeing difficult. A full minute passed, yet no ambush was sprung.

"That was unexpected." Raven droned, letting her guard up. Robin relaxed from his battle stance as well and looked around, puzzled, "But, the alert scan said..."

Naveas narrowed his one good eye, his glowing golden staff suddenly in his hand, "Do not worry, they are here. They are reluctant to show themselves, for some reason or another. Be prepared!"

No sooner than he had said that when a sound like thunderclap sounded in their midst, the concussive force knocking them down or backwards into the wall or some other unyielding thing. The sound and the force stunned them, and in this stunned state they watched drunkenly as the mists in the room began to swirl together, to coalesce. They came together before them in the center of the room as a towering being of vapor, charged from within by subtle elemental energies like crackling lightning and rumbling thunder. It had a very humanoid upper body, a powerful chest made from dark grey and black cloud, thick strong arms and large powerful hands. A vague head with no other features save a pair of brightly glowing white eyes, shining maliciously down on them. The being had no legs, only a twisting lower portion like that of a tornado. The magical creature of storm rose and grew in size until it nearly filled the room.

The Titans only then recovered from the stunning affect, assuming a battle stance together. "Uh, Naveas... just what the hell IS that thing?" Cyborg inquired, staring up at the monster before them, his sonic cannon unfurled and charged. Naveas, his staff in hand beside him, looked up at the towering apparition and said, "I should have known! A Maelstrom Bringer, from the plane of air. A creature that is formed from the primordial fury of the storms. But, why would Saevan and this Slade summon such as this?"

"Why, simply to harness its energy!" a voice answered from beyond the towering Maelstrom Bringer. The Titans gaze centered on the source, behind the creature on a catwalk. A young man in black robes, holding a black staff and a book of some sort stood beside the familiar form of Slade. The young man smiled and added, "Greetings, once more, my dear friend Naveas! I see you are well. How was your journey from Altanair? Was it still burning when you left? Ah, by your incensed expression, I can tell your attempts to end the hell storms didn't go as you had planned, eh?"

"This ends here, Saevan! The long list of worlds you have destroyed in your insane quest is finished! I will stop you here!" Naveas shouted, whirling his staff in a threatening manner. His one eye glimmered with determined resolve.

"So, your Saevan?" Robin said next, "Listen up, we're the..."

Saevan smirked in his impudent manner, "The Titans I have heard so much about! Slade has educated me on who you are and what you can do. A martial artist, a machine-man hybrid, a alien warrior-princess, a extraplanar sorceress of daemonic descent, and a elven shapeshifter. My, you are a diversified lot! However, your various talents will be of no use to you."

"What's going on, Slade? Why have you allied yourself with him!" Robin shouted, unsettled greatly by the extensive knowledge Saevan already possessed on them. Slade blinked his one visible eye and said, "Robin, Robin, Robin... You should know me better than to ask such a question. Isn't the answer obvious? Saevan offered me a deal. He would give me an object of great power, that being the Adamant King. In return, I would deal with your friend there, Naveas. As for this... this Maelstrom Bringer... my associate conjured it in order to provide ample power... for this." Slade produced from behind his back a glowing silver rod, the very same stolen by his androids not more than twenty-four hours ago. Now, though, it hummed with inner power, the runes and other etchwork on its surface shimmering. Naveas cursed loudly.

"Ah, I see you recognize what this truly is. Now, let me erase all doubt from your minds. This is the Sceptre of the Adamant King. Fully charged as it is, I can now activate it and locate my prize." Slade says in a tone of voice that is assured of his victory. Saevan smirked all the more as he again spoke, "And, my dear Naveas and accompanying Titans, there is little you can do to stop us! That is, you might be able to, if you can get past this Maelstrom Bringer." He gestured and the Maelstrom Bringer began to close on the Titans. Ill intent was evident in its eyes.

"Slade, you won't get away with this! I swear it!" Robin cried, as he and the Titans prepared to combat the creature. Slade and Saevan did not reply, but instead slipped away via another service entrance accessible by the catwalk. The Maelstrom Bringer continued to close with the adolescent heroes, keeping their attention on it instead of its masters. Naveas, on the other hand, did something unexpected. He took off sprinting, around the Maelstrom Bringer, who swiped on massive cloud arm at him. "Naveas! Naveas, where the hell are you going! NAVEAS!" He did not turn to reply. He ran up to the catwalks, around to where Saevan and Slade had stood, and disappeared through the same doorway they took. Robin shook his head and took quick stock of the situation, "Titans! For whatever reason, Naveas had decided to leave us to our own devices for this battle. We had better hit this... Maelstrom Bringer, er, whatever it is... hard and fast!"

"We'd better hope that Naveas' enchantments are enough to deal with this thing." Raven remarked.

"They had better, because I do not like the visual appearance of this... thing." Starfire added, charging starbolts in her hands.

"Looks like its all us, now." Cyborg said. Beast Boy gulped, "And, that's a good thing! Dudes! We're so totally screwed!"

The Maelstrom Bringer waited no longer to start its onslaught. It howled like a onrushing hurricane and hurled a bolt of lightning with a crash. Robin tensed for a diving leap, shouting, "Titans, go!"

Deeper into the plant's bowels, Naveas charged alone. Behind him, the sounds of thunderous battle echoed back down the corridor. He knew the others would be displeased with his apparent desertion, but he knew beyond a doubt he had to catch Slade and Saevan before they exited the building. He had to reclaim the Sceptre before it could be activated, and the world of Earth could fall under the might of the Adamant King. Suddenly, he sensed a flux of magic energy. He knew the spell used as one of long-distance conveyance. As he reached the end of the service corridor, he found himself in another large room. A storage room, apparently, because it was mostly filled with old containers like crates and rusted barrels. A floating gash hovered in the air. Saevan and Slade stood before it and Naveas came to an abrupt stop. He knew that magical construct was a portal.

"See how predictable he is, Saevan? I knew he would pursue us and leave those foolish Titans to deal with your summoned slave." Slade said, sounding very pleased with himself. Saevan was smirking still, and replied, "Yes, you do have an uncanny ability. Anyway, before you kill him, Slade, I'd like to have a word with my dear friend."

"Be my guest. After all, it is likely the last conversation he will be having." Slade remarked. Saevan stepped forward, walked within striking distance of Naveas. Naveas found it difficult to keep himself from swinging with his staff and striking him, but he restrained himself.

"How does it feel to know that you will fail again, Naveas?" Saevan inquired, malice dripping in his tone, "How does it feel to know that all you have striven for was naught? Hmm?"

Naveas glared at him and spoke, his voice tense, "It's not over yet, Naveas. I intent to take from you the Sceptre. I intent to take it, and go far away to somewhere where you'll never find it again. And then, I intend to kill you. You must pay for what you've done. For Solavon, and for all the other worlds that you have obliterated!"

Saevan laughed wickedly, as if he had just heard the finest joke. He laughed long and hard. Naveas only continued to glare. When he had finished laughing, Saevan trained a truly withering glare on his rival. "Pay? For what, pray tell? I did what I had to do, and nothing more. Power is the only thing that matters. The Solarii idaltu would never grasp for power, and that made them weak. The Solvani people did not call for them to grasp power, and that made them weak as well. Both the idaltu and the people of Solavon were weak, and there is no place for the weak!" Saevan seethed as he spoke, the old anger returning as he thought of what happened so long ago. Naveas saw his anger, and saw that after all this time, Saevan had not changed. For all his apparent wisdom, he was still as deluded as ever.

Naveas spoke back, saying, "And, so you decided to sacrifice the weak, didn't you, Saevan? Our people, the idaltu who taught us our craft, and our very world. You sacrificed it all to the Void, and for what? What did you receive, Saevan? A stick and a book? Was it really worth it?"

"SILENCE!" Saevan roared, his eyes flaring with inner power. The building shook, and Slade momentarily had a pang of fear. However, he reasserted his composure, and watched on. Saevan proved all the more intriguing as time went on. Naveas was unbowed by Saevan's angry display. He knew they were matched, even if he felt weak at the moment. After several deep breathes, Saevan spoke, his voice more controlled but no less furious, "You do not know anything, Naveas! The Rod of the Blighted Heart and the Onyx Grimoire were but trinkets in addition to what I received from that ritual. The real prize, oh, the real prize...! If only you could imagine, Naveas."

"No, Saevan, I really think it best if I didn't." Naveas said, "Now, enough of this useless talk. You have something that doesn't belong to you. Hand it over now, and I will not vaporize your worthless hides!"

"My, such talk!" Saevan says, backing up so that he stood once more before the swirling vortex of the portal, "Well, if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you shall get!"

Taking his cue, Slade spoke, saying, "Kill him!" The stacks of crates burst all around him and out from these hidden places sprang a dozen of Slade's own android killing machines. Only, they seemed different. Taller in stature, with thicker armor, more menacing weaponry. They attacked faster almost than Naveas could react, massive bladed claws going for him. With a flourish, Naveas spun the golden staff in his hands while depressing a hidden panel on its surface. From either end sprang gilded, slightly curved blades. The staff became a double voulge, which Naveas spun with practiced ease to deflect all incoming attacks in a whirling blur of golden metal and flashing titanium. Slade and Saevan survey the battle briefly, before turning and ducking into the energies of the portal and disappearing from the power plant.

Back in the central generator room of the power plant, another battle raged no less fiercely. The Maelstrom Bringer proved a worthy foe, even with the enchanted gear provided by Naveas. The opening lightning blast had been easily avoided, but the powerful air elemental had other tricks. Such as the hurricane force winds it used to restrict the Titans' freedom of movement. Further lighting strikes made the situation even more difficult. And, to top if all off, their weapons, while more effective than before, still weren't making much of a difference. After all, how does one fight a being made of such an incorporeal material as cloud and vapor? Starbolts, enhanced sonic blasts, birdarangs, telekinetically launched objects, and any form of animal-based attack seemed to only phase through the creature. All the while, the Maelstrom Bringer raged and howled, attacking with wind surges, lighting strikes, claps of thunder, or its own gigantic fists.

"Waaaaggh... oof!" Beast Boy came sailing down from a failed attempt to gore the Maelstrom Bringer. He sat up, his eyes spinning in his head, and moaned. "Ugh... This isn't getting us anywhere! Robin, please tell me you have a plan!"

Robin dodged another lighting bolt, and hurled another wave of birdarangs into the creature, only to have them pass through it an embed themselves on the other side of the room. He grit his teeth and cursed silently. "Sorry, Beast Boy! Working on it, though!"

Cyborg side stepped another near-hit from the elemental and continued pumping blast after blast of sound energy from his sonic cannon. The elemental just opened holes in itself to let the azure energy by, before resuming its attacks. "Man, that's so _cheap_! I can't even touch this guy!"

Starfire hurls another starbolt, flies to the side to dodge a massive arm swipe, makes ready to hurl another, and gets nailed by the return swing of the same arm. She sails through the air to make impact with the far wall. She shakes it off, though. "Ow, that was most unpleasant... Robin, I am most regretful, but I seem to be making little progress in my attempts to inflict structural damage to this creature."

Raven threw some more crates and part of the catwalk railing at the Maelstrom Bringer with her powers, only to have the elemental hurl a gust of wind at it and send it back towards her. With a gasp, she erected a shield of psionic energy, which absorbed the incoming projectile, crumpling it. "This isn't good. We need Naveas."

"Except, the guy blew us off!" Beast Boy said, sounding more than a little pissed, "And I thought only someone like Robin would do that to us!"

Robin grimaced at the insinuated memories, grunted as he dodged a particularly difficult attack, and moved to get out of the immediate range of the monster. "Not now, Beast Boy! We need to stop yapping and start kicking ass!"

It was at that moment that there was a loud sizzling, as if much energy was being gathered. The titans and the Maelstrom Bringer turned to look back up at the catwalk and saw that Naveas had returned and was in the middle of a casting. The Maelstrom Bringer suddenly contorts itself, as the power of the spell causes it to thicken and become more of a target. At that moment, Robin senses a concerted attack would defeat the creature. The others pick up on the chance granted to them, an a volley of attacks from all sides strikes the stricken elemental. Howling, the creature loses its ability to maintain corporeal form, and discorporates into a drifting bank of fog which quickly dissipates before them.

With their enemy vanquished, and Saevan and Slade no where in sight, the team gathers around Naveas. "You'd better have a good reason for taking off like that." Robin warns him, his tone hard. Naveas looks around at the grim, unamused faces. He knows inside that he has stunted what little trust he had managed to grow with them. He knows this and accepts it. He bows his head, his eye gazing at the ground. "My apologies. I should not have left you alone to face the Maelstrom Bringer. But, you must understand, I had to try and take the Sceptre before it was too late!"

"Then, where is it?" Raven asked of him. He looked up, briefly, and then back down. "I... failed. It was a trap they had laid for me. I... I was a fool. They still have the Sceptre..."

A moment of uneasy silence. Their displeasure was thick, almost palpable. And all Naveas could do was stew in his own inadequacy and shame. The others huddled and spoke amongst themselves. Then, everyone except Robin left. At length, Robin spoke again, saying, "Well, I guess what's done is done. No use wasting time here. We're heading back to the tower. We'll wait till tomorrow to try and piece together a plan of action." He turned to leave, was almost at the door to the outside when he stopped and looked back at Naveas. "Listen, Naveas... I know your trying to help us, and I want you to know its appreciated. Just remember, your not alone anymore in this fight. This is our world. If we're in as much trouble as you say, which I think we are, then we'll need to stand together to make a difference. A team effort, understand?" Naveas nodded, silently. Robin sighed, knowing how difficult this was to hear. He remembered when he was getting almost the same exact spiel from the other Titans, not too long ago. "We'll see you at the tower, Naveas. Let's hope we can still stop them, before it's too late." And with that, the Boy Wonder was gone as well.

Naveas was left alone in the old power plant. He looked around at the markings of battle. The scorch marks, the twisted wreckage, and the dents in the walls and floor. He thought of the dozen dismembered androids back in the storage room. But, most of all, he thought of the lost Sceptre, and of who held it. And the hundred worlds that lay behind them, ruined beyond repair. He shuddered, as he remembered each world vividly. His fists clenched as he silently swore that the verdant world of Earth would not join their list. "Saevan, Slade... you've won this round. I swear, the next round will be a victory for the Titans!"

Elsewhere, the instrument that could unleash the awesome might of the adamant king sits upon a display like an altar to a rising god. Its power has been charged, and it only awaits the hand of its master to unleash that power on another unsuspecting world.


	8. Chapter 8

**Part 8: Counterattack**

A grey dawn arrived the next day. Clouds blanketed the sky and unleashed a downpour from the heavens. It made for a depressing day for city dwellers. It was even more depressing for the Titans in their island tower within the bay. The recent defeat at the hands of their enemies, Slade and Saevan, had sapped them somewhat of will. However, that didn't destroy a certain Boy Wonder's determination, and it was his tireless urging that kept what little morale they had alive. More training was slated for the morning and afternoon. He would scan the city again and again for any clues as to where their enemies were hiding, and where they would strike next.

Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Starfire went about their training without complaint. Memories of the past few days' battles haunted them. Fear of what the future would bring drove them to hone and improve their abilities as much as they could. Raven also felt the uncertainty of her teammates, though she did not show it as readily as they. She spent the time slated for training either in her room, perusing her more business oriented books, the ones she had been given while in the keeping of the monks of Azarath, or meditating. The books that she read held much ancient information, about past empires, notable figures, and powerful artifacts. Through one book after another, she searched for references to the Sceptre of the Adamant King and the King himself, ancient Solavon, and the Solvani people. Understandably, references were few and far between. So, meditation dominated her time. While meditating, she couldn't help but feel the presence of Naveas, who sat outside in front the tower beside his ever faithful golem familiar. The pouring rain did not appear to faze him as he sat and stared straight out across the waters of the bay, his posture and expression unchanging. She knew he was in the middle of his own brand of meditation and left him to it.

Naveas himself was indeed deep within a meditative trance, part of a spell that allowed him to see unerringly his surroundings both immediate and distant. A spell of scrying, centered on the Sceptre. His questing aura extended out in streams from the pool of his mind, crossing the distance from the Titan's island to the mainland and the city. Seeing every person, every item, hearing everything spoken and everything thought. And while the spell worked, Naveas delved deeply into contemplative thought. He reviewed the past forty eight hours, attempting to sort the events and analyze them. There was nothing of import about the first twenty four hours, though he began to achieve wonderful insights into these "Titans" he was thrown together with. They held latent potential, that much he was certain of. But, would such potential blossom and flourish if Saevan achieved that which he was attempting? Naveas, disgusted with the way his thoughts turned to defeatism, decided to not pursue that line of thought again. Instead, his mind turned to the logic of defeating his enemies. If only... If only he could find them, he would visit upon them such terrible destruction and vengeance! It frightened him, to feel with such passion the need to inflict harm. His soul shuddered, as an errant thought returned to him...

_On a distant world bathed in the light of twin suns, a pair of youthful children sit with their legs folded in the courtyard of a high tower. The tower sits upon a hill, overlooking a vast metropolis of stone, crystal, and glass buildings. The ancient city of Ath Helios, most grand capitol of the Empire of the Eternal Sun_. _The tower is part of an old network of citadels, the Arx Stella, centers of the magic arts on Solavon. Home of the Solvani idaltu, eldest of an already long-lived race. Here, those children born with the Talent are instructed in the underlying power they hold. For, only those who wield the Talent can master the raw arcane power of the Solarii. Those entrusted with the utmost levels of near-godlike power. The two young boys who sit in the light of the twin suns gaze up at a tall, imposing figure. An undescribably ancient man, clad in the pure white and blazing gold robes of his station, stands before them. Having finished their exercises for the day, the ancient one allows a hint of a smile to show on his lips. "My children, you have done exceedingly well this day. As the future of our order in this world, you would do our people proud."_

"_My the stars shine brightly upon you, master." the two children intone, bowing their heads in solemn reverence for the old man._

"_Yes, even now, I can tell that the fate of Solavon is well in hand with Solarii such as you. You two are almost precisely identical in your potential. Isn't that splendid, to be exactly alike? Naveas, Saevan?"_

_The two boys, one silver haired, his eyes the natural azure and gold of the Solavon race and the other, hair as black as night, his black-red eyes an unnatural oddity from birth, nods and smiles_...

Even though then, the thought of being the same as Saevan was not as revolting, now the thought filled Naveas with sickness. He was not Saevan. Perhaps they were both Solvani, perhaps they were both Solarii, but Saevan had violated every sacred precept held dear by both his people and his order. The fact that he would recklessly endanger world after world for something as trivial and transitory as personal power and glory was proof alone of his unworthiness to live. Naveas had to remind himself that he was different. He cared for the people of this world, of every world he had ever visited. His works promoted life and progress, instead of death and stagnation. He did not hunger for personal might or glory. All he ever wanted was justice for a countless number of the dead, and peace for his own mind and spirit. Peace most of all.

Suddenly, his searching aura flashed in alarm. It had found the Sceptre, and in doing so had found Slade's hidden lair. It sensed the presence of legions of improved android soldiers, the cunning mind of Slade, and the beacon of arcane essence that was Saevan. Naveas turned to the real world, the trance falling from him swiftly as he stood. He ignored the fact that his robes were soaked, his hair dripping wet in his face and at the back of his head. He turned purposefully, and went straight inside the tower. He passed through the main room, took the elevator down a level, and entered the training room. Upon his entrance, the titans present ceased their various activities. They looked to him, dripping wet though not appearing to care. He looked back at them and slowly, ever so slowly, he smiled.

Elsewhere, across the city, Slade sat upon his metal throne in his lair with the Sceptre of the Adamant King in his hand. He held the humming, vibrating artifact as it threw off an intense amount of energy. He could feel it as a warmth, dancing across his nerves. Saevan was not far away, watching his associate as he handled the device. He knew that Slade was very much pleased by the turn of events. This substantial victory gave his claims credence, and assured him that the cunning criminal mastermind would continue along this path laid for him until the very end.

"It is time, Saevan. Instruct me on how to activate the Sceptre!" Slade abruptly demanded. Saevan smirked and nodded, "Of course. To activate the artifact, you must simply search for three specific runes etched upon its surface. Pressing these runic markings in the proper sequence will engage the device, commanding it to unleash its navigational enchantments."

"Which runes?" Slade demanded, staring at Saevan. Saevan chuckled, amused. "No need to get so worked up, Slade. I have no need to keep anything from you, do I? Now, the runes are the characters used to describe a planet, a star, and a third symbol describes flames."

Slade searched over the Sceptre's surface and found runes that resembled a stylized planet, a burning star, and a ball of raging fire. When the three runes had been touched, they glowed, the light spreading until all the etchings glowed from within. Then, the Sceptre lifted up out of Slade's hands and hovered in mid air, the hum from inside rising to an angry pitch. Suddenly, without warning, a beam of pulsing light shot out from the device and struck the nearest bank of computer terminals. Words, numbers, and diagrams of all sorts flashed across the screens as the computers were manipulated by the powerful Solvani artifact. Slade watched, rapt, as the device finished the information transfer and slowly lowered to the ground, spent of energy and now still.

The criminal mastermind turned to the dark sage. "What just happened, here?" Slade inquired. Saevan gestured to the computers and replied, "The device has done what it was designed to do. The information upon the location of the Shaper's Forgeworks was given to the nearest vessel capable of containment. In this case, the technology of your computer network."

Slade's eyes fell upon the lifeless Sceptre upon the ground. "Then, what about this?" Saevan picked it up and replied, "It, is put a key now. We need to take it with us to the gates of the Forgeworks. It will allow us passage beyond them, and deeper within."

"Excellent, then. Let us make ready. I wish to be in possession of the Adamant King before the new moon." Slade said, his tone authoritive. With that, he strode over to the bank of computers, and set about preparing translation and encryption programs to process the precious data held there within. It was merely moments after the programs ran and finished that something completely unexpected occurred. Saevan felt a rush of arcane energy, sensed an incoming teleportation spell centered on the Sceptre, and cursed loudly. Slade turned in time to be knocked against a distant wall by a shuddering of the air mere feet in front of him. An outrushing of air threw Saevan back as well, but he was better prepared and landed in a crouch. As the unnatural air currents died, a flash of light and a crash of sound erupted and then there, in the middle of the lair, appeared the Teen Titans and Naveas, in full battle readiness.

Slade pulled himself up, shaking off the stunning affects of his impact with the rock wall. His own visible eye started with rage, "How! How is this possible!"

Robin smiled where he crouched in his battle stance, "Simple, Slade. Naveas found your hideout out with a spell of his, and then he proceeded to drop us right on your doorstep. You've had no prior warning, no time to set up ambushes or escape routes. By the time you call for your androids, you'll be dead. It's over!"

Saevan laughed, and said, "Over? Surely not, my fine young mortal! While true, there is no contingency plan prepared for such a crafty maneuver as the one you've just performed, and reinforcements would take time to marshal, you are too late! We have already unlocked the Sceptre of the Adamant King and we know where we must go."

"Saevan, I will not allow you to escape. I've already cast a spell of spatial anchorage here. No magical teleportation of any sort will carry you away from retribution!" Naveas said, with obvious great satisfaction.

"Magic or not, we've come too far to be stopped now!" Slade exclaimed, removing something from a compartment on his belt. Robin recognized it and darted forward with a war cry, "Titans, go!"

Saevan cried out a arcane symbol and a encirclement of fire leapt up around the Titans. Slade then threw down a smoke grenade, to veil their movements in secrecy. Starfire and Beast Boy flew over the barrier of flames to pursue. Naveas uttered a spell of negation and dispelled the flames, allowing the rest of the Titans out from the trap.

"Well, now what? They've already used the Sceptre, and they've run off somewhere in this place!" Cyborg said.

"We find them, that's what." Robin replied, voice steely with determination and resolve. "Then we'd better hurry, because I sense a summoning ritual being performed." Raven announced.

Naveas felt it too, and said, "We will have other problems to worry about, friends. Saevan is summoning a Daemogaunt!"

"That doesn't sound good." Raven deadpanned. Robin grit his teeth, and hurried off in the direction of Starfire and Beast Boy's flight. "It won't do them any good! We've beat everything they've thrown at us so far, and we're not going to stop now!" Naveas shook his head, cursing the Boy Wonder's headstrong bravado. They would once again learn the hard way, it seemed.

Ahead of them, farther into Slade's lair, Starfire and Beast Boy, in the form of an eagle, hover and search for their foes. "Do you see them, friend Beast Boy?" Starfire inquired, peering down at the floor of the cavern.

"No, I've got nothing. It's like they've disappeared, or something!" Beast Boy replied, searching this way and that. Suddenly, from the floor of the cavern, beams of energy shot up at them. Starfire and Beast Boy avoided the opening fullisade and looked down. Below them, a veritable army of Slade's androids had mobilized, their ranged energy weaponry belching forth a barrage. Wordlessly, the two airborne heroes dove from above to engage them. Starfire hurled her energy bolts, creating devastating area of affect explosions to destroy five or six androids at a time. Beast Boy dove as a eagle, but then morphed in mid air to land as a gorilla and began to unleash a serious hand-to-hand beating on the nearest androids. Robin swung in next, leaping into the fray with a berserk fervor. Cyborg and Raven began a heavy bombardment of the android soldiers, shattering them with sound energy or crushing them with errant pieces of machinery and stone. Naveas joined the battle last, his golden staff switching into voulge mode as he raced fleet-footed into the thickest of the fight, where he began to whirl and spin like a dervish, the gilded blades of his chosen weapon flashing this way and that. The carnage was brutal. Androids were smashed, slashed, blasted, crushed, and shattered in every variation possible. And still, more androids answered the call to defend their master's domain. Then, the whole cavern shook. The strange tremor caught the attention of Robin, who struck off the head of his latest android foe with a deft blow of his bo staff and paused, brow furrowed. "Anyone else feel that!"

Another tremor, this time so close and violent that it knocked an unprepared Beast Boy to the ground. "Um... Guys? What's causing that!"

Raven projected a shield to defend the unsuspecting shapeshifter from a trio of androids. He cringed and cried out in fear as their metal claws scraped the energy field mere inches from his face. With another thought, Raven converted the shield into a razor blade at waist level, bisecting the three machine fiends with a single attack."Something of pure evil, that's what."

Naveas ceased his annihilation of androids long enough to peer ahead through the oncoming waves of enemies. "It's done. Saevan has finished his summoning. A Daemogaunt has arrived!"

"Excuse me? A Daemo-what!" Cyborg exclaimed, incredulous. Naveas pointed at a distant form as it approached, towering over the veritable horde of androids still able to fight. "That... is a Daemogaunt."

The titans, one and all, stared in horror at the malevolent thing that approached them now, wreathed in a foul looking fog bank of noxious sulphur. The Daemogaunt stood nearly to the ceiling and seemed to be a giant walking automaton with four arms and a domed head, with a steaming daemon's visage for a face and onyx metal for horns. It's eyes shone a menacing red, and seemed to pulsate within empty metal sockets.. It's hulking body was fashioned from gleaming hellbrass, and it's joints clanked and whined as it's many legs took another thundering step after another. It's upper, smaller arms ended in wide-bore cannons while the larger, lower arms were tipped with a pair of massive metal claws with razored blades for fingers, and it moved forward on what looked like the legs of a spider. It trampled the androids before it as it approached, and when it got within range, it uttered a furious sound like tortured metal crashing from it's head and loosed a volley from it's gun-arms. A pair of hellish fireballs came rocketing toward the titan's battle line, leaving smoking contrails in their wake.

"Titans, move!" Robin shouted, wasting no time in getting his teammates out of the line of fire. All of them, save Naveas, scattered in the face of the approaching projectiles. With a shout, he raised a shield of mystic energy before him upon which the fiery assault impacted with fearsome force. The heat was tremendous, even behind his hastily erected Mage Wall spell. The Daemogaunt was not impressed, however. It surged forward, shrieking its metallic fury, gun-arms firing volley after volley at the shimmering field before the Solvani mage.

Gritting his teeth at the great strain of will it took to keep the shield active in the face of such power, Naveas called out over the sound of battle, "Strike it at the core, while you have the chance! I will draw it's wrath to me!"

"Robin, this foe seems more fearsome than the last! Perhaps we should take Friend Naveas's advice?" Starfire said, hovering several feet above the ground, hands clenched into glowing green orbs of energy.

"Dude! We'd better do something, 'cause he can't hold up forever!" Beast Boy remarked. Robin looked, and sure enough, the Daemogaunt rammed both its claws into the shield projected by Naveas. The force feedback knocked the young mage unconscious, rocketing him backwards at an astonishing speed, slamming him into the rock wall behind him. Stunned and incapacitated as he was, he didn't see the Daemogaunt's follow-up attack soaring at him. Robin took his own cue. "Titans, go!"

Cyborg, Beast Boy and Starfire charged as one, twin fists and a triceratops horn struck the Daemogaunt in mid-charge from the flank. Cybernetic, reptilian and alien strength worked together to pound the Daemogaunt into the distant wall, to be followed by a punishing barrage of telekinetically thrown items, explosive birdarangs, sonic energy, and starbolts. So much firepower unleashed at one location caused parts of the wall around and the ceiling above the Daemogaunt to crumble and collapse, burying the struggling killing machine under tons of rock. Robin breathed a silent breathe of relief as Starfire clasped her hands in mid-air, smiling radiantly. "Aw yeah, booyah! Put _that_ in your pipe and smoke it!" Cyborg cried, triumphantly pumping a fist as he surveyed their handiwork. Beast Boy did a little victory dance, "Who's bad? We're bad! Oh yeah, oh yeah!"

"Um, I wouldn't start celebrating just yet..." Raven droned, staring at the Daemogaunt's burial area. Cyborg and Beast Boy stopped respectively, while Starfire cast a worried gaze in that direction. Robin turned and prepared himself for further mayhem. He was certain that such a beating could have stopped even the Demolugon. But, they were prepared for the battle to continue. With an explosive surge, the Daemogaunt did not disappoint. Rock went flying in all directions as the malevolent construct rose up on its eight legs and fired forth twin hellfire shells at them. The resulting explosions nearly engulfed the titans, as they scattered once more. The Daemogaunt charged forward, firing its ranged weaponry and twitching its vicious bladed limbs.

"What shall it take to stop this abominable monstrosity?" Starfire shouts over the sound of chaos.

Dodging particularly ferocious claw swipes and a leg thrust, a green panther transformed into a panting emerald elf. "Didn't Naveas mention attacking it's core thingy?"

"He did, did he not? Well, that is what I shall do!" Starfire exclaimed, before charging a starbolt easily three times the size of her head. Robin saw the incandescent flare of her attack from where he stood in the battle. "Raven, Cyborg! Concentrate your fire with Starfire!"

His teammates silently complied, streaming forth the raw fury of sound waves and a barrage of telekinetically launched missiles. Robin added a double handful of his explosive birdarangs just as Starfire unleashed her special attack. With a resounding battle cry, the large orb of energy adds the coup de grace. The Daemogaunt attempts to shield it's vulnerable core, crossing all its arms before it to absorb the brunt of the murderous firepower being exerted upon it. Amidst a cluster of earthshaking explosions, it's shriek echoed in pain and defeat before being silenced forever. The smoke and fire cleared, revealing a charred metallic hulk, devoid of the animating evil presence that had inhabited it.

"Starfire, good work!" Robin called up to the hovering warrior princess. She smiled tiredly, and floated down to stand on solid rock. "That... was a most taxing ordeal. But, I am most elated to see our foe defeated at last."

"That wasn't our true foe, however." Raven reminded them. "Somewhere in this complex, we still have Slade and Saevan to deal with. And, Naveas might need medical assistance."

Cyborg pounded one fist into the other, his face grim, "That's right! I nearly forgot, but this thing was only a small fry, and we've got bigger fish to catch."

"Taking all that into consideration, it looks like we might have to split up." Robin said at length, his tone business like. "Raven, Beast Boy... stay with Naveas. Make sure he's not to badly injured, then join Starfire, Cyborg and I as soon as possible. We'll continue deeper into Slade's lair."

Raven sighed, irritated, "You had to pair me with Beast Boy, didn't you?" Before Beast Boy could angrily retort, Robin replied, "Try and get along. We've got more important things to deal with at the moment."

Raven and Beast Boy watched them leave, heading down to the far end of the large cavern before disappearing into the mouth of a tunnel. Thus, the two of them were alone. Raven looked at Beast Boy, he looked back at her. Raven sighed, and Beast Boy cleared his throat nervously. Then, they turned and started for the fallen form of Naveas. He stirred as they neared, a hand to his head where a gash had been opened. "Ugh... A most painful experience, that."

"Dude, a lot of good you did during that fight!" Beast Boy said, smirking self confidently, "We took that big walking ashcan down all on our own, didn't we Raven? Uh, Raven...?"

Raven ignored the shapeshifter and applied a glowing hand to the wound. "I guess you took more than you could handle. The others have gone after Slade and Saevan, so we should attend to those wounds."

Naveas waved away her attempts to heal him and stood up, shaking his head to clear his mind. "Never you mind. My mere flesh wounds pale in comparison to the prospect of allowing our enemies to flee!"

"Dude, she was just trying to help you!" Beast Boy cried, offended by Naveas's apparent lack of gratitude. Raven silenced him with a look. He made to say something more, but she stared all the harder until he relented. After all, she was used to such responses, or she should have been. She didn't take it personally. "In that case, let's hurry. The others must have run into them by now."

At that moment, across the complex, Robin, Cyborg, and Starfire come to a halt inside another large chamber cut in the stone. A large airship had been constructed and been supplied, and the chamber served as a hangar for it. The three heroes had arrived just as Slade had begun take off procedures.

"They are attempting to escape!" Starfire cried, hands and eyes glowing as she prepared for another battle.

"Oh no you don't, bastard!" Robin growled, and ran over to a nearby control panel. His hands flying over the console, he shouted over his shoulder, "Cyborg, help Starfire! Make sure he doesn't get off the ground! I'll seal the hangar doors from here!"

Cyborg unfurled his sonic cannon, taking aim with a grim smile, "You got it! One grounded bird, coming right up!" He and Starfire loosed a barrage of starbolts and sound energy against the large aerial vessel, only to have their attacks rebuffed by some invisible energy sphere encasing it entirely. Starfire held her fire, "Where is that coming from?"

As if in response, a crimson bolt of lightning struck her from the side. With a pained and surprised cry, she was through back to the ground. Cyborg whirled with his cannon in the direction of the ambush only to have a second energy bolt strike the ground before him causing an explosion, knocking him up and back with its concussive force. A third attack, directed at the hangar controls, decimated the console and blew Robin backwards. Grunting in pain, he turned and saw the source of the assault. Saevan hovered in mid air, the Rod of Blight in one hand while the Onyx Grimoire floated before him. Robin's eyes narrowed through his mask as he picked himself up slowly, his body protesting at the rough treatment. "You! I though Naveas had sealed all magic from being used here!"

Saevan laughed at the wounded Boy Wonder. "Fool! I only am restricted in the use of magic methods of transportation. However, I am completely free to pelt you and your pathetic team of crusaders will all manner of evocation spells! Prepare for your imminent annihilation!"

"Oh yeah? Well, the only one that's going to be annihilated imminently, is you! Booyah!" Cyborg exclaimed, before unleashing his sonic cannon directly at the evil Solvani mage. Saevan smirked and chanted something from the Onyx Grimoire. Cyborg watched in horror as his own attack turned in mid-flight, swelled in power, and was redirected back at him in multiple volleys. He shouted in pain and confusion as the beams of sonic energy, malevolently magnified, fell around him, knocking him down and inflicting grievous damage. Angered, Starfire attacked next, forgoing energy attacks for a more direct approach. To her credit, she did manage to land a terrific uppercut against Saevan's smirking face. With a cut-off grunt of surprised pain, the mage was thrown against a nearby wall. The Onyx Grimoire fell from the air, no longer in tune to it's masters fell wishes. Starfire pressed the attack, flying after the shaken Saevan to pound him again and again into the wall, her fists flying in a blur. Robin watched in horror as the sudden onslaught ended as quickly as it had begun as with a shout of rage, Saevan slammed the Rod of Blight into the side of Starfire's head with surprising force. A second savage attack, just as inhumanly strong as the first came in the form of a thrust to the stomach. This doubled her over and left her open to Saevan's finishing blow, which was a double-overhand chop with the gem that topped the rod at one end. She plummeted like a falling stone to the ground and did not move thereafter.

"Star!" Robin sprinted for her fallen form, but was stopped in his tracks by a wall of fire that rose before him. Saevan strode through the flames, smirking once again with the Rod of Blight in hand. "I would not fear for her, my young vigilante. She is quite unconscious, I believe. I see no reason to harm her further. However, you on the other hand, are not as lucky as she."

Robin quickly removed his bo staff from his belt and extended it, lowering himself into his battle ready stance, "You're going down, right here and now! I won't let you hurt anyone else with your sick scheme!"

Saevan laughed, and to Robin's eyes seemed to grow in stature, easily towering over the mystified Boy Wonder. To his terrified gaze, Saevan became something altogether monstrous, with massive fangs, gaping jaws, and flaming eyes. With a scream of utter fear, he dropped his weapon and skittered to put distance between them only to fall onto his back helpless. Before him, the beast that was Saevan loomed and laughed in a fell voice. "You dare face me in personal combat, little boy! Haaaaugh! I am more than you can possibly imagine, more powerful, and more terrible than even your darkest nightmares! See how you tremble before me?How could have hoped to stand before me, puny weakling of a human! Haaaaugh!"

Another voice other than that of the frightened Boy Wonder answered him. A voice that was all too familiar. "Saevan!" There was an accompanying blast of white light, a lancing beam of fire that struck the swirling image of horror before Robin and cast it away in a burst of intermingling shadow and light. Naveas, Raven, and Beast Boy entered the battle at that moment. Beast Boy transformed into a T-Rex and charged Saevan as he stumbled backwards, his concentration disrupted and injured from the spell unleashed by Naveas. Seeing the charging changeling, he performed a agile backflip that brought him clear of the attack. Raven flung some nearby spare parts and empty fuel drums. Naveas began another casting. The airship rose up then on pillars of forcefully directed air. Saevan leapt once more, catching a hold of an open door hatch and pulled himself inside.

"They're going to get away!" Beast Boy shouted, transforming back into his elf form. Raven looked on and replied, "Not if Naveas and I can help it!" Her eyes glowed grey. Simultaneously, a pitch black surge of power erupted from his raised hands as a blindingly bright bolt of azure lightning leapt from the hands of Naveas. The twin blasts missed as the airship maneuvered suddenly, and the resulting explosions parted the immobile ceiling hangar doors.

The airship, along with Slade, Saevan, and the Scepter of the Adamant King, escaped into the falling night outside.


	9. Chapter 9

**Part 9: Aftermath**

With the escape of Slade and Saevan, there was little left to do in the villain's former lair. Mostly mop up the various legions of androids still defending different sectors of the vast underground complex. Robin took part in that operation with a special gusto, striking with a battle fervor the others had not seen him in. They believed he was relieving his rage at allowing their enemies to escape, but in truth he was trying to maintain his self image. The image of a fearless, skilled warrior who never backed down from any foe, any challenge. An image that had been shattered utterly when facing off against a foe that he was beginning to realize was too much for a mere human. Saevan, whatever he had done to him, had defeated Robin without even touching him. An extremely grave dishonor, to be sure. So, he hid his disgrace and disgust in the dying embers of the battle.

Unbeknownst to him, though, three people knew what plagued him. Naveas, who had once seen the product of Saevan's terrible power on the minds of those unprepared for his psychological horrors. Raven, who sensed a fundamental disturbance in her friend and leader. And Starfire, who had been injured in the last stages of battle with Saevan. She felt somewhat responsible for what had happened to the Boy Wonder. But, prior experience with the self-reliant Titan leader told her to leave it alone. He'd work through it himself. Raven and Naveas already knew this, for their respective reasons. However, Cyborg and Beast Boy were completely clueless as to what had transpired.

"Dudes, I'm still not getting why Robin's moody all of a sudden!" Beast Boy said. Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, and Naveas had gathered around the central computer terminals at the center of the main cavern. Robin and Starfire were off finishing the final patrol sweep of the lair, making sure everything of harm had either been destroyed, disabled, or confiscated for further study. Cyborg, taking the advice of Naveas, had begun searching the lair's mainframe memory for information on where Slade and Saevan had gone. He wisely ignored the shapeshifter's remark, allowing either Raven or Naveas to field the answer.

"It's... complex." Raven told him, and deigned to say no further. Beast Boy wouldn't have any of it. "Complex? What the heck is that supposed to mean! Stop being so frackin' cryptic!"

"Be calm." Naveas said, watching Cyborg's progress over his shoulder. "It does not concern you, so do not trouble yourself. Your friend Robin was shaken in the midst of battle, and I surmise his unsettling experience has made him uncertain of his abilities."

"So..." Beast Boy prompted, sounding expectant. Naveas looked directly at him. "I shall say no more. Concentrate on reviewing your performance during our last battle. Reflection is the first step along the path to self improvement."

"Hey! Just what are you trying to say, anyway?" Beast Boy cried, indignant. He got no further answers, from any of the three present, so he turned his back on them and sat down with his arms crossed, sulking.

Cyborg continued working away at the computer terminal, his cybernetic hands dancing a flurry of manual dexterity as he expertly weaved his way through the inner programming of the system. "Man, this is some pretty heavy stuff! I've found evidence of a strange data transfer, some sort of navigational information was uploaded to the memory of this mainframe."

"That's probably what we're looking for, then." Raven said. Cyborg shook his head, "Not quite, I can't make out anything these symbols or numbers are saying. It's gotta be encrypted, or something!"

Naveas looked at the glyphs and runes flowing across the screen. "No, it's not that. The information was uploaded in perfect Solvani dialect. I can translate it all for you, if you wish."

Cyborg smiled, clicked an icon, and said, "No need, I just found a program which I'm guessing was used to translate it all into the English language. Leave it to Slade to make things easier."

"But, why would Slade translate it, if he had Saevan to read it for him?" Raven inquired. Naveas replied, "Because, he does not trust Saevan to give the information to him accurately, I suppose."

"Smart move on his part; I wouldn't trust that lightning-throwing freak as far as I could throw him!" Cyborg remarked.

"Speaking of which, next time I see him... I'm going to open up a WHOLE can of whoop ass on that guy." Beast Boy said from where he sat. He seemed to forget his whole reason for sulking, and turned to look at them. "Besides, what happens now that they know where they're going, anyway?"

Cyborg looked at Naveas, "Yeah, man, you were never really clear on just what this big, bad 'Adamant King' thing could do!"

"The Adamant King was a guardian construct built by the Shaper, an incredibly powerful and ancient sentient machine, at the behest of the Star Lord, ruler of the Empire of the Eternal Sun. It was forged to protect Solavon, if ever the fabric of the multiverse were to be sundered and the Void was allowed to spill out of its place at the center of the planes of existence. Such a thing has happened before, and will doubtless happen again long after our lives. But, the Emperor had enemies in his court with enough understanding of summoning magic to attempt such a thing now. The Adamant King was built as the last line of defense against the nightmarish creatures which lurk in the depths of the Void..." Naveas explained, his eyes taking on a far away look. He seemed to be remembering something as he spoke.

"But, why is the Shaper's Forgeworks here on Earth? Shouldn't it be back on Solavon?" Cyborg said.

Naveas shook his head, dispelling the images that only he could have seen. "Remember, Solavon is no more. It was consumed by a localized planar breach, which allowed part of the Void to leak into our plane. However, though the world itself was destroyed, the Shaper was able to tear a portal open and bring the Forgeworks and the Adamant King to some other, safer place."

"So, it brought it all here?" Beast Boy said. Naveas nodded, "Indeed, and it has been hidden in a sort of subplanar dimension anchored to your world, awaiting the time when an expedition from Solavon could come and claim the Adamant King."

"So, if that isn't going to be happening, can Slade and Saevan show up and lie to this Shaper. You know, impersonate the expedition from Solavon?" Cyborg inquired.

Naveas thought a moment, and shrugged, "I suppose it isn't entirely impossible. I have never quite understood the relationship between the Solvani people and the Shaper. Many of our oldest stories say that it came to our world from somewhere else. I remember other stories that said that the sentience that is the Shaper would not care for the trivial day-to-day activities of biological beings. More than likely, the Shaper will not be able to differentiate between a Solvani like Saevan and a human like Slade."

"Great, then that means that it's almost certain Slade will be able to assume control over the Adamant King." Raven said.

"And then, it will take intervention on the scale of divinity to save your world from a bleak fate." Naveas said.

"Not if we can help it." a familiar voice said. They looked and saw that Robin and Starfire had returned from their patrol. The Titan leader looked all business. Starfire seemed less than enthused, but kept up appearances as best she could. "Cyborg, report. What did you find in the base's central computer memory?"

"Navigational information written in what Naveas says is Solvani dialect. I also found translation programs, and managed to run the information through. Slade likely did the same thing." Cyborg explained.

"Good work." Robin replied, "Download it to your personal memory, and destroy the mainframe. We can't let this information just lie around. When your finished, we're heading back to the tower. We'll use the T-Ship to follow after Slade and Saevan."

"Gotcha. I'm on it! Won't take but a coupla minutes!" Cyborg turned and started his final preparations. Robin and the others started for the exit. Raven waited a moment, then stopped him. "Robin, we need to discuss what happened a few moments ago."

Robin sidestepped her and kept moving, saying, "Not now, Raven. We've got work to do, can't you see?"

Raven turned and replied, "I see that all too well, Robin. I also see a frightened little boy, running from a serious problem."

That got Robin's attention. He turned, eyemask slits narrowed at the empath a few steps behind. "This had better be good, Raven. We don't have much time!"

Raven ignored his last comment. Satisfied that he at least was half listening, she spoke softly. "Robin, calm down. You're very tense right now. What happened back there? Back in the hangar, when you faced Saevan alone, before we arrived?"

Robin made to angrily protest the question. Then he stopped, as if truly giving the question some thought. His eyemask slits softened, and he looked at the ground. "I... I-I don't know..."

Raven took the fact he admitted as a good sign. She went on in explanation. "Naveas says that it was a sort of perception altering enchantment Saevan is adept at using. It makes him seem more than he is, and it frightens his opponent terribly."

"A cheap trick..."

"Yes, that's all it was." Raven said, silently hoping that this realization would snap him out of it. Instead, Robin looked back at her with an unreadable expression, and said, "Then, all the worse that I should fall for it."

An hour later, the team assembled in the hangar of the Titan's Tower. The T-Ship, also the T-Sub, sat ready for liftoff. Robin stood before them, and said, "Alright, we're ready to move out. Before we go, we must remember that we can't afford failure. Slade and Saevan must be stopped, at all costs. Naveas impressed upon me that we're really in hot water now that the information leading to the Adamant King is in their hands. So, I expect the very best from all of you."

The others, save Naveas and Raven, nodded solemnly. Robin nodded, and then smirked, "Alright then, let's go, Titans!"

"Wait, hold up a sec!" Cyborg cried, "Don't you remember? The T-ship's got only five cockpits! How is this going to work with Naveas here?"

Robin thought a moment, looking sheepishly puzzled. "Hmm... Good point, I didn't even think of that."

Naveas chuckled and replied, "Fear not, for I have my ways." He made a gesture and suddenly was hovering several feet off the ground. He shot from one end of the room and back again before hovering once more."Eh, works for me..." Cyborg replied, scratching his head.

When all was made ready, the T-ship lifted off and flew away from the Titan's Tower. Naveas followed closely behind like a living missile, and behind him flew the large bulk of Gilgas on twin plumes of golden fire. From within the T-ship, Beast Boy takes a glance behind them. "Well, at least he's bringing that big robot thingy with him."

"All the more assistance will work to make us more joyous, yes?" Starfire remarked from her place within the vessel.

"Yes, the more the merrier." Robin replied, smiling. "Now, Cyborg, plug in the first set of navigational coordinates. We've got to make up for lost time!"

"Heheh, booyah!" Cyborg exclaimed, "Already done! Maxing out the T-ship's throttle... Sure hope ole Naveas can keep up with my baby!" With that, the T-ship accelerated towards the horizon, leaving Naveas and Gilgas behind in a cloud of exhaust. Naveas looked after them and just smirked.


End file.
